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The mother of a 1-year-old girl was among dozens of Cubans deported from Florida last month. Like others, she was detained at an immigration office after going there for an appointment. Nancy Guan with member station WUSF reports.
NANCY GUAN, BYLINE: Heidy Sanchez had so much to celebrate. She and her husband bought a home three months ago. They were raising their daughter and having family barbecues in the backyard. Sanchez was also on the way to getting her green card. But when she showed up to her appointment at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Tampa, she was detained - then, within two days, deported to Cuba. We spoke to Sanchez over the phone.
HEIDY SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: Sanchez says she told immigration officials not to separate her from her daughter.
SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: "I told them, please don't do this to me," she says, "but the officers didn't listen."
Sanchez left her daughter with her husband. She was then bused to Miami and put on a flight with about 80 others to Cuba. When she arrived, she says she was distraught.
SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: She kept wondering, when will I see my daughter again? When will I be with my husband and my family again? Sanchez's husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, says he's in disbelief.
CARLOS YUNIEL VALLE: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: The two met five years ago. Valle says he fell in love with Sanchez because she was a focused and serious person.
VALLE: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: "She was the opposite of me," he says. "She made me a better person."
Valle is also from Cuba. He came to the U.S. over two decades ago through a special lottery system set up for Cuban immigrants. That's how he became a naturalized citizen.
VALLE: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: "I was escaping hunger and misery," he says. "Everyone is just fighting for a better future."
But Sanchez's path was more complicated. She crossed the U.S.-Mexico border in 2019 and tried to claim asylum, but she was detained and issued a deportation order. Only Cuba wasn't taking back its nationals at the time, so Sanchez was freed from detention under certain conditions. She could live and work in the U.S., but still had a deportation order. She had to check in periodically with immigration officials. In the meantime, Sanchez studied and became a certified nursing assistant. She met Valle, fell in love and got married. Valle applied for Sanchez's green card two years ago. They were hopeful. But then ICE officials called her to move up one of her immigration check-ins.
VALLE: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: Valle says they were suspicious. But they wanted to do things the right way, so they did what they were told. That's when they found out that ICE was enforcing her deportation order. Lawyers and advocates across the U.S. say more people are being detained at immigration appointments. Elizabeth Cannon is an immigration attorney based in Tampa.
ELIZABETH CANNON: What we're seeing now is a chaotic change wherein we aren't necessarily going to actually manage to deport criminals. And instead, we are going to willy-nilly throw out nets, and it's going to hamper humanitarian decisions.
GUAN: Cannon says in previous administrations, it was normal for ICE or Customs and Border Patrol to let people like Sanchez, who have no criminal history, remain in the U.S. while they waited for a decision on their green card.
CANNON: What we're having now, again, is this no-rhyme-or-reason lack of discretion. It's terror tactics against immigrants.
GUAN: ICE did not respond to multiple requests for information about this case. But the Department of Homeland Security sent a statement saying parents who are being deported have the option to leave their child in the United States with relatives. It says parents can also self-deport, with the potential to return through legal means. Cannon says while Sanchez can continue the application process for her green card outside of the U.S., backlogs and immigration policies will likely add years to her possible return. Over the phone, Valle tells Sanchez to remain strong - that they're going to fight her case.
VALLE: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: Before they hang up, Sanchez calls out to her daughter.
SANCHEZ: (Crying and speaking Spanish).
GUAN: "Kailyn, I love you," she says.
SANCHEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
GUAN: "And I miss you so much."
For NPR News, I'm Nancy Guan in Tampa.
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