“I can’t wait for the day I wake up from this nightmare,” said 34-year-old Xiomara, who spoke on condition that she could only be identified by her first name for security reasons.
One of her last acts of motherhood was bathing and dressing her daughter after she heard from border officials that Briselda, then 8, was being taken away. She said she watched helplessly as officers escorted Briselda to a number of children, most of whom were crying and waiting to get into a van that drove to the airport.
For her daughter’s safety, Xiomara said she preferred Briselda to stay in the United States with her family rather than return to her in El Salvador. They’re in regular contact on WhatsApp, she said, but the removal has taken an emotional toll, and Xiomara has battled depression and recently started seeing a therapist.
Others, despite their reunification, continue to suffer from the effects.
Fifteen days passed before Oscar, a Honduran immigrant imprisoned in McAllen, Texas, heard from his then eight-year-old son Daniel, from whom he had been separated.
“I felt angry. I went crazy, ”recalls Oscar, 35, who spoke on condition that he could only be identified by his middle name.
On one tearful phone call, his son announced that he was living in a Houston animal shelter. The father and son were reunited after 33 days by order of a judge and moved to Charlotte, NC
Since then, Oscar has grappled with how to help his son, whom he described as “not the same boy since we split up”. Daniel runs away when he sees someone in police uniform and wakes up at night screaming, Oscar said.
