Parents deported, toddler held in US: How 2-year-old Maikelys was reunited with mother in Venezuela

First Post

15-05-2025

In March, two-year-old Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal's father was jailed in El Salvador, while her mother was deported to Venezuela on April 25. The child's separation led to massive outrage in Venezuela, which accused the US authorities of 'abducting' her. The toddler has now been reunited with her mother in Venezuela, where First Lady Cilia Flores was seen holding her as officials addressed the media at the airport read more
The young girl was brought back to Venezuela and reunited with her parents. AP
A two-year-old Venezuelan girl was separated from her parents because of deportation rules in the United States. Her parents had already been deported when the separation happened.
In March, the girl's father was taken to a prison in El Salvador. The child, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, was placed in foster care in the US.
The case has led to criticism from immigrant rights groups. They have raised concerns that such separations may become more common as the Trump administration pushes for faster deportations.
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On Wednesday, Maikelys returned to Caracas and was reunited with her mother. Footage on state television showed Venezuela's first lady, Cilia Flores, holding the child at the airport.
In this explainer, we explore how the separation took place, what followed after her parents were deported, and how she finally made it back to Venezuela to be with her family.
Here's a look:
How the 2-year-old girl was separated from her parents
The child's mother was deported to Venezuela on April 25. Her father had already been moved in March to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
This was part of a bigger policy by the Trump administration, which used an old wartime law from the 18th century to speed up deportations.
Maikelys Espinoza Bernal is hugged by her mother after being deported from the US at Miraflores Palace, in Caracas, Venezuela. Reuters
Before being separated, the parents had been kept in different detention centres in Texas for several months. During this time, they could only speak to each other by phone. Earlier this month, Inciarte was suddenly deported to Venezuela without her daughter.
She later found out that Escalona, the father, had first been sent to Guantanamo Bay and then, on March 30, to the large Cecot prison in El Salvador. This meant their daughter was left without either parents.
Notably, the US government has said the separation happened because the parents were believed to have links to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. This group was labelled a terrorist organisation by US President Donald Trump earlier this year.
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For years, the Nicolas Maduro government in Venezuela had refused to accept deported migrants from the US. But since Trump took office, hundreds of Venezuelans, including around 180 who were held for up to 16 days at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, have been sent back to Venezuela.
The Trump administration claims that those deported to Guantanamo and El Salvador are members of Tren de Aragua. However, it has not provided much evidence to support this claim.
The child's father has said he believes he was targeted because of his tattoos. In a sworn court declaration from early March, he said the tattoos were not gang-related.
In a statement on Saturday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the child was removed from a deportation flight 'for her safety and welfare.' She was handed over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and placed with a foster family.
How the incident caused anger in Venezuela
The separation of Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal from her parents led to strong reactions in Venezuela.
Several protests took place in Caracas, where people accused US authorities of 'abducting' the child.
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The Venezuelan government said the US had broken international law and promised to use every legal and diplomatic channel to bring the girl home.
Officials called for the child's 'immediate release' and said her basic rights and the rule of law must be respected.
They pointed to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which says children should not be separated from their parents against their will unless it is in the child's best interest, according to a CNN report.
While the US has signed the convention, it has not ratified it.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the US was wrongly keeping the child. He announced that a march planned for International Workers' Day on May 1 would now also call for her return.
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'I ask for the full support of the Venezuelan people in the effort we are going to make to rescue this kidnapped girl and to bring back safe and sound - sooner rather than later - the 252 Venezuelans kidnapped in El Salvador,' he said on Monday, referring to the Venezuelans deported by the US to a prison in El Salvador.
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The child's mother was deported to Venezuela on April 25. AP
How the girl was reunited with parents
On Wednesday, the young girl was brought back to Venezuela and reunited with her mother. She landed at the Simon Bolivar International Airport on a repatriation flight from the United States.
Venezuelan First Lady Cilia Flores was seen holding the two-year-old as officials spoke to the media gathered at the airport.
'Today we have a great victory,' Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said.
Later that day, the child met her mother and grandmother at the presidential palace in Caracas. State television showed Bernal in tears, hugging her daughter tightly.
Maduro said Venezuelan authorities had worked with lawyers and rights groups in the US to make the reunion possible.
'I have to thank in fairness Ambassador Richard Grenell, special envoy of (US) President Donald Trump, for his efforts. And with Ambassador Richard Grenell, thank President Donald Trump, as well,' he said.
'There have been and there will be differences, but it's possible with God's blessing to move forward.'
It is worth noting that the Trump administration relied on the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime law, to speed up deportations. The law allows the president to expel individuals without the usual legal process, claiming that irregular migration amounts to a foreign 'invasion.'
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With inputs from agencies