Cuban mother deported from US pleads with Trump to reunite with her family
HAVANA AP Ten times a day for the past two weeks Heidy S nchez has made the same two-block trek from her parents home in Havana looking for an internet signal to video call her family and sing her daughter to sleep And every single time she has ended up crying Cuban-born S nchez was detained in Florida in April during a routine check-in appointment at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE office Two days later she was deported to Cuba A breastfeeding mother to a -year-old and wife of a U S citizen S nchez is pleading with U S President Donald Trump to help her go back and reunite with her family To president Trump who has a family he says he believes in God and I believe in God too I would like him to put his hand on his heart and please help us reunite our family she informed The Associated Press My baby is little she necessities me S nchez story has raised questions among lawyers and activists about the Trump s administration crackdown against illegal immigration including who is being deported the legal basis for people s removal and if the expulsions have followed the proper procedures ICE didn t respond promptly to request for comment The Trump administration has made it a top priority to deport about million people who have been ordered by a judge to leave the country arguing that they have exhausted all avenues to a legal challenge regardless of individual circumstances S nchez broke out in tears several times while looking at family photos of her baby and husband I am physically and mentally destroyed she commented My world has collapsed and my life is over S nchez arrived at the southern margin of the United States in among hundreds of thousands of Cuban immigrants She appeared before a judge once without problems but was late for her second appointment By the time S nchez ultimately appeared before the judge he had signed a deportation order for non-compliance Despite this she was allowed to stay although she spent nine months in an immigration detention center After her release S nchez got her life back on track She went to school and started working as a nursing assistant In she married Carlos Yuniel Valle an American citizen and entrepreneur from Tampa and after two rounds of in vitro fertilization their daughter Kailyn was born in November We were very happy she stated Meanwhile in Florida S nchez s -year-old husband is grappling with the sudden reality of being a single parent He recounted a moment when Kailyn didn t want to sleep and her mom on a video call suggested she sing her a song to help put her to bed When she started to sing the girl began reaching out to touch the screen to caress her mother s face he announced She began to kiss the screen I started crying and so did her mother Valle is also concerned about his future missing work to care for their child and fearing he ll be unable to keep up with his house and car payments The family and their lawyers are launching a campaign to collect signatures in backing of a humanitarian visa for S nchez and Tampa Rep Kathy Castor has requested her parole from the Trump administration Follow AP s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at https apnews com hub latin-america Source
