Seventeen minors were handed over to NYC Child Protective Services.

On Monday, the Colombian government expelled nine adults from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community Lev Tahor and handed over 17 minors to New York, following an international alert from Interpol.

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Lev Tahor members remained in a migration center in Medellin for a week, while the minors were kept under supervision. They were handed over to Child Protective Services (CPS) in New York, while the adults were placed at the disposal of U.S. immigration and judicial authorities.

Colombian Migration Director Gloria Esperanza emphasized that protecting children and adolescents is “a higher responsibility” and that Colombian authorities acted rigorously, guaranteeing the minors’ rights and complying with international regulations.

Lev Tahor members arrived in Colombia in October from the U.S. and Panama, entering through Cartagena and Medellin with valid passports. Their presence went unnoticed until an Interpol yellow notice and an anonymous tip revealed custody irregularities involving five U.S. minors.

On Nov. 22, Colombian authorities located the group in Antioquia and immediately implemented protective measures. The Colombian Institute of Family Welfare’s psychosocial team concluded that several adults did not have current legal custody arrangements in the U.S.

Following the legal setbacks, Esperanza estimated that the community has over 90 members. She detailed that the group planned to rent a farm in Colombia to replicate their practices, including marriages between cousins ​​as young as 12.

The Lev Tahor sect was founded in Jerusalem in 1988, and its members practice a restrictive lifestyle, with austere clothing, arranged marriages, and a rejection of secular education. The sect has been raided in Israel, Canada, the U.S., Guatemala, and Mexico due to custody disputes and the illegal transfer of minors.

In 2024, Guatemala rescued 160 children, and three members, the Weingarten brothers, were sentenced in New York to 12 years in prison for child sex trafficking. Colombia is the fourth Latin American country where Lev Tahor has been detected.

The sect, comprised of about 50 families from various countries, has had conflicts with local authorities, such as in San Juan La Laguna, Guatemala, where they were expelled due to their rejection of the Indigenous population.

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE – BBC

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