Partial Victory for Immigrant Mom Who Lost Her Parental Rights

Remember Encarnacion Bail Romero, whose parental rights were terminated after she was swept up in an immigration raid and her son was adopted without her consent? She wins a partial victory in the Missouri Supreme Court:

The Missouri Supreme Court has sided with a Guatemalan immigrant in a child custody case, ruling that the state failed to follow its laws in terminating her parental rights and allowing her son to be adopted by someone else.

Why only a partial victory?

Tuesday’s decision does not automatically return the child to the mother. Instead, the court ordered the state to follow proper procedures and hold a new trial on whether the mother’s parental rights should be terminated.

So it is still possible that the mother will lose her parental rights. You can read the 92-page Missouri Supreme Court opinion, which includes concurring and dissenting opinions as well, by clicking here. I'll write more about it when I have a chance to read it all!