A Mother and Father Were Deported. What Happened to Their Toddler? [View all]

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/29/world/americas/family-deported-trump-venezuela-el-salvador.html

The girl, known to many in her family as Antonella, is one of several children who have been swept up in President Trump’s immigration crackdown in recent days. At least three children who are U.S. citizens were sent to Honduras this month with their mothers, decisions protested by the families’ lawyers.

In the case of the Venezuelan toddler, the girl’s mother, Yorely Bernal, 20, had entered the United States with her partner, Maiker Espinoza, and their child in May 2024, while President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was still in office.

According to the couple’s relatives, the authorities told them their tattoos looked suspicious, took them into custody and sent the girl to foster care.

(snip)

It is unclear why officials separated the family members last year. Record searches indicate that neither parent has a criminal record in Venezuela or Peru, where they lived for several years, or in the United States, beyond their immigration offenses. In the United States the couple has lived only in immigration detention.

The purpose of a system is what it does. When it's designed to take kids from their parents and send them into a different system that's designed to keep children from their parents, it will do so. No matter who is in charge.