'Stop Hurting My Family'; Mother, Baby Reunited After Month-Long Separation At US Border
SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KPIX 5) -- A 23-year old Honduran mother was reunited with her baby daughter at San Francisco International Airport on Tuesday evening after a month-long separation, which came as the family tried to cross the U.S. border in search of asylum.
The mother is Cindy Flores. Her 18-month-old daughter Juliet was with her father as the two attempted to cross the border. They were separated when he was arrested and charged with returning to the U.S. after deportation.
The father is currently in Arizona fighting another deportation, according to Mijente, an organization who has been helping the family. Flores crossed the border separately and was released earlier in January.
Immigration authorities said that the father has a criminal history and has been deported several times.
Flores is staying with family in San Francisco while she seeks asylum.
"It was a traumatic experience to be taken away from a father in this way and then separated from any and all family members," said Lisa Castellanos of Mijente, who was with Flores and her daughter at SFO.
In Spanish, as Castellanos translated, Flores said, "Stop breaking families apart."
"Babies have died, families have been separated and people seeking asylum have been turned away," said Castellanos.
The reunion comes six months after the Trump administration said it would end its "zero-tolerance" immigration policy.