An 8-year-old U.S. citizen was detained in a federally contracted shelter in Brooklyn for nearly seven months after being picked up at the Mexico-U.S. border. Despite his grandmother providing federal officials with his birth certificate establishing his U.S. citizenship through his mother, the Office of Refugee Resettlement did not investigate his citizenship status. An advocate documented that the child appeared sad, isolated, and reluctant to engage during detention. He was released only after an immigration judge ruled him a U.S. citizen and a federal lawsuit was filed. He was subsequently placed with his grandmother in Brooklyn.