Importance Score: 55 / 100 🔵
Heidy Sánchez desperate to connect with daughter: The woman climbed onto a Havana rooftop to access Wi-Fi and share a lullaby via WhatsApp.
Sánchez, a resident of the Tampa area, was expelled from the United States last week, separated from her 17-month-old U.S. citizen daughter who suffers from seizures and was still nursing, according to Sánchez and her legal team.
The Operation’s Impact on Families
Sánchez family illustrates the increased frequency of deportations for immigrants without criminal records, despite former President Donald Trump’s campaign promises to prioritize the removal of violent offenders. This practice has led to the separation of families, including cases where children have been left behind without their primary caregivers.
Recent Cases of Family Separation
Sánchez’s deportation coincides with the expulsions of two other mothers to Honduras with their U.S. citizen children, one of whom has stage 4 cancer. In these instances, lawyers report that the mothers wished for their children to remain in the United States but were not permitted to make the necessary arrangements.
Sánchez, however, claims everything transpired rapidly. “They never allowed me to take my daughter,” she stated. Her attorneys confirmed this account.
ICE’s Stance and Response
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not provide a comment on the matter. However, the administration has previously asserted that deported parents were given the choice to take their children.
Details of Sánchez’s Deportation
Sánchez reported that her daughter’s seizures began three months ago, and she is currently under the care of a neurologist in Tampa.
Her daughter’s nightly routine entailed breastfeeding, lullabies, and sleeping in the same bed. Now, her daughter merely cries, Sánchez and her spouse, Carlos Valle, revealed in separate interviews. Valle, a naturalized U.S. citizen, stays in Tampa with their child.
Deportation Details
Planned to report to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa on April 30, Sánchez’s appointment was unexpectedly moved up, her Miami-based attorney, Claudia Cañizares, disclosed.
According to Sánchez and her attorneys, she began weeping, insisting that she could not abandon her infant. The officers advised that the child could visit her in Cuba.
The child was handed to the attorney present and taken outside to her father. The attorneys claim that the officers did not permit Sánchez to bid farewell to her husband or hand the baby to him. When Valle asked if he could say his goodbyes, the official advised her no and instructed him to depart.
Efforts to Reunite the Family
Valle attempts to comfort his daughter and has contacted members of Congress to request assistance in bringing Sánchez back to the United States.
Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Fla., sent a letter to Trump, asking for Sánchez’s return to the United States. Valle is scheduled to meet with Castor’s office to discuss the matter.
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., responded in a letter stating that his office could not assist in this legal matter and suggested Valle consult with a private attorney.
The Legal Battle
Cañizares encountered obstacles trying to file a stay on Sánchez’s deportation. “This is very taxing and overwhelming,” Cañizares stated, noting difficulties in reaching Sánchez or confirming her exact location. Her firm discovered that Sánchez had been deported while attempting to file documents.
Cañizares reflects on the challenges of adhering to the rule of law when the government may not be following the same procedures.
Sánchez’s Immigration History
Sánchez applied for U.S. asylum in 2019, during Trump’s presidency, under the “Migrant Protection Protocols,” which required asylum-seekers to await their court hearings in Mexico.
Her hearing was missed because she was obligated to wait in Nuevo León, Mexico. The judge ordered her deportation in absentia. Eventually, she was admitted into the United States but detained for nine months before she was released under ICE supervision with regular check-ins.
Her husband, also from Cuba, is a naturalized citizen who has been working on her Green Card application.
Sánchez and Cannonzares’s Next Steps
Cañizares is exploring the possibility of requesting humanitarian parole for Sánchez, although this is a complex process, especially since Sánchez already has an executed order of removal. Other legal processes are time-consuming and may take several years.
Sánchez deeply worries that she and her husband “are not requesting financial aid or food, but our daughter is enduring the most suffering”/p> “The only thing we are requesting is to be reunited once again.”