A lawsuit has been filed against the US government's Customs and Border Protection over the death of a ill Samoan baby at Honolulu Airport in February.
The baby's parents' lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, after the mother, nurse and baby, whose papers were all in order, were detained without reason at the airport.
The 14-day-old infant, Michael Futi, had travelled to Hawaii from American Samoa for pre-arranged emergency treatment, but had died by the time he got the Kapiolani Children's Hospital.
A lawyer for the baby's parents, Rick Fried, says they've had no response from authorities to determine why the trio was delayed, so they are taking legal action.
"They have come up with no answer as to why they did it. I made a request to talk about settling the case and they didn't respond. There has been a number of stories about them being understaffed, allegations that they have actually falsified the records on how quickly people are to get through customs, because people are not complying with their own rules."
Rick Fried says they are optimistic they can change things for the better and that there will be some salutory effect from this litigation.
