Trump administration separates thousands of migrant families in the US
By GISELA SALOMON Associated Press MIAMI AP President Donald Trump s zero-tolerance immigration strategy split more than children from their families at the Mexico margin during his first term Related Articles Homeland Shield Secretary Noem faces scrutiny over immigration policies at a House hearing Senate poised to reject extension of physical condition care subsidies as costs rise for a great number of Tariffs have cost U S households each since Trump returned to the White House Democrats say Trump s handling of the market is at its lowest point in AP-NORC polling New York Times after Trump post says it won t be deterred from writing about his healthcare Perimeter crossings sit at a record low nearly a year into his second administration and a new wave of immigration enforcement is dividing families inside the U S Federal functionaries and their local law enforcement partners are detaining tens of thousands of asylum-seekers and newcomers Detainees are moved repeatedly then deported or held in poor conditions for weeks or months before asking to go home The federal cabinet was holding an average of more than people in November the highest on record During the first Trump administration families were forcibly separated at the perimeter and executives struggled to find children in a vast shelter system because authorities computer systems weren t linked Now parents inside the United States are being arrested by immigration agents and separated from their families during prolonged detention Or they choose to have their children remain in the U S after an adult is deported various after years or decades here The Trump administration and its anti-immigration backers see unprecedented success and Trump s top boundary adviser Tom Homan reported reporters in April that we re going to keep doing it full speed ahead Three families separated by migration enforcement in latest months described The Associated Press that their dreams of better freer lives had clashed with Washington s new immigration framework and their existence is anguished without knowing if they will see their loved ones again For them migration marked the manageable start of permanent separation between parents and children the source of deep pain and uncertainty A family divided between Florida and Venezuela Antonio Laverde left Venezuela for the U S in and crossed the territory line illegally then requested asylum He got a work permit and a driver s license and worked as an Uber driver in Miami sharing homes with other immigrants so he could send money to relatives in Venezuela and Florida Laverde s wife Jakelin Pasedo and their sons followed him from Venezuela to Miami in December Pasedo focused on caring for her sons while her husband earned enough to endorsement the family Pasedo and the kids got refugee status but Laverde never obtained it and as he left for work one early June morning he was arrested by federal agents Pasedo says it was a matter of mistaken identity by agents hunting for a suspect in their shared housing In the end she and her children then and remember the agents cuffing Laverde at gunpoint They got sick with fever crying for their father asking for him Pasedo revealed Laverde was held at Broward Transitional Center a detention facility in Pompano Beach Florida In September after three months detention he questioned to return to Venezuela Pasedo however has no plans to go back She fears she could be arrested or kidnapped for criticizing the socialist regime and belonging to the political opposition She works cleaning offices and despite all the obstacles hopes to reunify with her husband someday in the U S They followed the law Yaoska s husband was a political activist in Nicaragua a country tight in the grasp of autocratic married co-presidents Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo She remembers her husband getting death threats and being beaten by police when he refused to participate in a pro-government march Yaoska spoke on condition of anonymity and requested the same for her husband to protect him from the Nicaraguan administration The couple fled Nicaragua for the U S with their -year-old son in passing the limit and getting immigration parole Settling down in Miami they applied for asylum and had a second son who has U S citizenship Yaoska is now five months pregnant with their third child The two-year-old son of pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska hunts for a snack in the mini fridge of the Miami-area motel room where he lives with his mother and brother after their father was deported to Nicaragua Thursday Nov AP Photo Rebecca Blackwell In late August Yaoska went to an appointment at the South Florida office of U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement Her family accompanied her Her husband was detained and failed his credible fear interview according to a court document Yaoska was circulated under -hour supervision by a GPS watch that she cannot remove Her husband was deported to Nicaragua after three months at the Krome Detention Center the United States oldest immigration detention facility and one with a long history of abuse Yaoska now shares family news with her husband by phone The children are struggling without their father she declared It s so hard to see my children like this They arrested him right in front of them Yaoska declared her voice trembling They don t want to eat and are often sick The youngest wakes up at night asking for him Two brothers are reflected in a ceiling mirror as they pass the time in the Miami-area motel room where they are living with their pregnant mother Yaoska after their father was deported to Nicaragua Thursday Nov AP Photo Rebecca Blackwell I m afraid in Nicaragua she declared But I m scared here too Yaoska mentioned her work authorization is valid until but the future is frightening and uncertain I ve applied to several job agencies but nobody calls me back she explained I don t know what s going to happen to me He was detained by local police then deported Edgar left Guatemala more than two decades ago Working construction he started a family in South Florida with Amavilia a fellow undocumented Guatemalan migrant The arrival of their son brought them enjoyment Guatemalan migrant Amavilia holds her infant son whose father Edgar was detained days after his birth and later deported to Guatemala inside the South Florida apartment where she lives with her two children and a roommate Wednesday Oct AP Photo Rebecca Blackwell He was so happy with the baby he loved him revealed Amavilia He narrated me he was going to see him grow up and walk But within a meager days Edgar was detained on a warrant for driving without a license in Homestead the small agricultural city where he lived in South Florida She and her husband declined to provide their last names because they are worried about repercussion from U S immigration functionaries Amavilia expected his release within hours Instead Edgar who declined to be interviewed was turned over to immigration representatives and moved to Krome I fell into despair I didn t know what to do Amavilia commented I can t go Edgar was deported to Guatemala on June After Edgar s detention Amavilia couldn t pay the rent for the two-bedroom apartment she shares with another immigrant For the first three months she received donations from immigration advocates Currently breastfeeding and caring for two children she wakes up at a m to cook lunches she sells for each She walks with her son in a stroller to take her daughter to school then spends afternoons selling homemade ice cream and chocolate-covered bananas door to door with her two children Amavilia crossed the edge in September and did not seek asylum or any type of legal status She revealed her daughter grows anxious around police She urges her to stay calm smile and walk with confidence I m afraid to go out but I invariably go out entrusting myself to God she mentioned Every time I return home I feel happy and grateful