Trump Administration Won't Say If Deported Parents Can Ever Reunite With Their Kids [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Huffington Post

03/07/2019 02:39 pm ET

One father hasn’t seen his son in more than ten months and is hoping the U.S. government will let him back into the country.

By Angelina Chapin

Last weekend, 29 parents from Central America were allowed to cross the border into America to apply for asylum and begin the process to reunite with their separated children.

But that was not the case for Mateo.

The father caught dengue fever and couldn’t make the monthlong journey from Central America to Mexicali, Mexico. He was supposed to have traveled with the group of mothers and fathers, accompanied by lawyers and religious leaders, to see his 13-year-old son who immigration officials took away from him more than 10 months ago.

Now, he has no idea if or when the U.S. government will allow him back in the country to apply for asylum.

“The only thing I have in my mind is ‘When am I going to see my son again?’” said Mateo in a phone call with HuffPost, speaking from Guatemala. “But now I’m sitting at home disappointed, disillusioned and waiting.” Mateo, who requested a pseudonym to protect his privacy, said that even remembering the day he and his son were separated “makes me cry” and that all he wants is to hug his child.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-trump-admin-is-keeping-deported-parents-away-from-their-separated-children_n_5c815418e4b06ff26ba6abfe