Her Mother Was Deported, Now Family Reunification Must Wait

Thursday is the deadline for federal officials to reunite families separated at the U.S.-Mexico border. For some children, whose parents are already deported, reunification won’t happen right away.

Some of those children are living with family friends and sometimes unfamiliar relatives in the state.

Sandy was already raising two young daughters in Rhode Island when she received a call in January from a social worker at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Her sister-in-law was being held at a detention facility in Arizona thousands of miles from her home in Guatemala. Sandy’s seven-year old niece, Delmy, was at a separate detention center, and needed to be placed with a guardian.

“They told me that I needed to decide in that moment if I was  going to take her out of that place or not,” Sandy said. “I began to think, if I didn’t take her, where would she end up?

Not knowing what else to do, Sandy said yes. Both she and her niece Delmy, are undocumented so we’re using only their nicknames to protect their identities.

On a recent summer afternoon, Delmy sits with her young cousin at the kitchen table eating a snack of eggs and handmade tortillas. It’s a simple dish, but one that reminds Delmy of home.

In Guatemala every meal comes with tortillas, Sandy explains. Delmy hasn’t seen her mother in more than six months.

She and her mother made their way from the Central American country through Mexico. According to court documents, her mother was arrested on January 13^th near San Luis, Arizona, a small border city near California.

“Mom now gets charged criminally,” says Rhode Island-based immigration attorney Debbie Gonzales, who is representing Delmy in court. “Presumably mom would have gone to the Bureau of Prisons, because this is a federal statute she has to appear in federal court. Child can’t go with mom to the Bureau of Federal Prisons, and so then the child is separated from mom.”

She explains this family separation occurred months before the Trump administration announced it would be pursuing criminal prosecution for more people attempting to cross the border, a policy known as “zero tolerance.”

ICE did not get back to RIPR in time for this story, but according to official records, Delmy’s mother had attempted to enter once before, which may have prompted the arrest and charge, says Gonzales.

It was after the arrest that Sandy, the aunt living in Rhode Island , received the phone call from the social worker, beginning the long process of getting Delmy.

“I felt desperate,” Sandy said. “I was not calm. There is so much paperwork. You have to prove haven’t committed a crime, you have to send your fingerprints; you have to prove that you can financially support the child.”

It took about a month to get Delmy. Sandy says she begged the social worker to let Delmy speak with her mother, but the social worker told her she could only work to place the child.

When she arrived in Rhode Island, after weeks in detention, she met her Aunt in person for the first time. Though she was able to speak with Sandy, seven-year old Delmy was never sure what was happening.

“I thought I would be with my mother,” Delmy said of her journey to Rhode Island.

But her mother is thousands of miles away in Guatemala. She pleaded guilty to entering the country on February 12^th and was deported.

Now Delmy and her mother do speak regularly over the phone. Sitting in Sandy’s apartment, she’s quick to laugh and smile. She wears pink Minnie Mouse shoes. She has long brown hair which Sandy often runs her hands through.

The experience has been hard on Delmy, but it’s also been difficult for Sandy. She says she worries constantly about Delmy. For a while she was having trouble sleeping.

Each weekday, Sandy drops her girls off at camp before heading to her job as a cleaner. She’s home for a few hours with them before heading to back for a second shift.

Sandy grew up in rural Guatemala. In a part of the country with few job opportunities, especially for women. She received only a few years of schooling. At home, she says, her father was abusive.

“All I remember is my mother being terrified and me fleeing in the middle of the night when my father would beat my mother,” Sandy said.

Eventually she decided she had to leave home.

“We all have something that causes us not to think about the risk because we reach a certain point where we have enough courage to do it because it’s not easy.”

So Sandy made her way to the United States with the help of smugglers or “coyotes.” She never returned to school because she didn’t have the time. She came with one overwhelming desire: to work.

As we chat in the kitchen, Delmy jumps up from the table and runs into her bedroom, returning with a manila envelope. Inside are several drawings her mother made for her while held in detention in Arizona. They’re pictures of cartoon characters including Minnie Mouse. There is also a letter from her mother.

“My princess Delmy I love you,” the letter begins. It goes on to say how fortunate she is to have such a brave daughter.

“We are separated, but nothing is forever,” the letter continues, “I long for the day that we are together again so that I can hold you in my arms.”

But that day may be a long way off. Delmy’s mother is in Guatemala. Meanwhile, Delmy’s own deportation case is working its way through the U.S. courts.

If the judge decides her daughter can stay, Delmy’s mother must choose whether to let her daughter live with her Aunt her in the states, or return to the life they tried to escape in Guatemala.