Immigration
In photos: The reunion of a deported Honduran woman and her daughter after two years of separation
Karla Cruz was detained at an airport when she asked for asylum and was denied and then unwittingly signed a voluntary deportation order. She was separated from Zury, her seven-year-old U.S. born daughter, for 22 months.
Karla Cruz was deported to Honduras in late 2016 without Zury, her then six-year-old daughter who was born in the United States. On Thursday, October 4, 2018, her family anxiously awaited her arrival at Toncontin airport in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras.
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Zury arrived on a plane from Boston, via Miami, to reconnect with her mother after 22 months. She was in foster care in Framingham, Massachusetts.
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Zury turned seven on August 25, separated from her mother. Karla was detained at Miami airport in December 2016 when she was visiting her daughter, who was receiving treatment for epilepsy in Boston.
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Karla Cruz says she had traveled to the United States on numerous occasions without problems to see her daughter on a tourist visa. She was detained by immigration in South Florida for 16 months.
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While in detention, Cruz requested asylum alleging spousal abuse, which included rape and kidnapping. Her request was rejected by a judge who considered it not credible.
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Without a lawyer to advise her, she inadvertently signed her own voluntary deportation. She thought that this way she would be reunited with her daughter and they would be able to return to Honduras together. "They told me to sign and they tricked me, I almost went crazy in that detention center," Cruz told Univision News. U.S. officials say they are unable to comment on family separation issues due to pending litigation.
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Zury with her maternal grandfather at Tegucigalpa airport. "She's happy," says her mother Karla Cruz. After nearly two years apart Zury barely speaks Spanish, "but she's going to learn," says Cruz.
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Zury will remain in Honduras "until she is old enough to travel alone," her mother said.
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Karla Cruz finally reunited with all her children. From left to right: Zury, age 7; Carlos Orlando, 22; Jean Jomi Luny, 13; Geiby Anahí, 18 and Kevin Javier, 20.
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Zury back home on Friday.
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