CNN
–
A Venezuelan mother, who was first deported from the US without a two-year-old daughter, says she was reunited with her child this week.
“I have doubted my daughter would come many times,” said Yohli Bernal, who shed tears in an interview with Venezuela news outlet Laiguana TV on Thursday. “But the miracle they gave me yesterday was without words to explain.”
Bernal was deported from the United States in March without his daughter, Meikelis. It ended the almost one year separation between the two when Venezuelan first lady Cilia Flores personally handed Meikelis Espinoza to Bernal at the Presidential Palace in Caracas on Wednesday.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Maikelys Most of her time was spent in foster care under the control of the US Refugee Resettlement Office before being returned to her mother under court orders.
DHS argues that the separation is for the safety of children, claiming that Bernal and her partner, who were deported to El Salvador’s high security CECOT prison earlier this year, are members of Trende Ragua, a Venezuelan crime crime.
“The mother of the child, yor yorelly escarlethbernal inciarte, will oversee Tren de Lagua’s recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution,” the DHS filed in a May 14 statement. The US government has not provided any concrete evidence of the allegations. They have no connection to Tren de Aragua.
Bernal told La Iguana that U.S. authorities cited Bernal’s upcoming immigration hearings at the time when she first detained her daughter last year.
Bernal entered the United States on May 14, 2024 with Maykelis and her partner Maker Espinoza. All three were swiftly detained by US immigration authorities, Vernal told Raiguana, and Maykelis was removed from care five days later.
For several months, Bernal said he was just over a year old when he crossed the border – he was able to see his mother again through a video calling app under the supervision of immigration authorities.
At that point, the toddler no longer recognizes her, she says.
“They allowed me to make video calls once a week for 30 minutes,” Vernal told La Iguana. “That was when I was able to see her. I knew it was her. But she didn’t recognize me anymore. It was about five months before she could see her again.”
In the end, she says Bernal and Espinoza were able to see their daughter during the 30-minute in-person visit. In a February affidavit filed in federal court, Espinoza said this was around October 2024.
Bernal, who reunited with her child in Venezuela, told the Venezuelan media she hopes her partner will eventually be released from Secott and join the family in Venezuela.
“I know he’s here because he made a promise to me,” she said.
