A family in D.C. faces an uncertain future amid immigration challenges. A mother says she and her 8-year-old daughter, who has autism and is non-verbal, are undocumented and will go before an immigration judge in the coming days.
Their order to appear before a judge comes after the child’s father was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
In just days, the child from Honduras won’t go to school as she usually does. She’ll head to court instead. Her mother says they received a letter from the Department of Justice for an in-person hearing on her daughter’s asylum case.
Telemundo 44’s Rosbelis Quiñonez spoke exclusively with the child’s mother, who asked to not be identified because of concerns about their status.
“If they deport her, well, I’m afraid to go back to my country, but I’m not going to leave my daughter alone. I’m going with her,” she said in Spanish.
Her daughter needs help from her mom or dad – who’s now in ICE custody – for “practically everything,” she said.
Video shows the child’s father, Gerson Lopez-Funes, being arrested by ICE officers in D.C. on Sept. 8. The child’s mother said the family has navigated their asylum cases for several years. Their cases are separate from their daughter’s, she said.
The mother said she doesn’t have money to hire a lawyer for her daughter. She is working a part-time job and struggling to cover their expenses with her husband in detention.
“It hurts me because I see my daughter suffering,” she said.
News4 and Telemundo 44 reached out to ICE for specifics on the case and asked whether it’s possible that the child could be deported on her own.
In a statement the agency said: “Gerson Aaron Lopez-Funez — an illegal alien from Honduras — illegally entered the U.S. with his daughter and female partner in the Rio Grande Valley, Texas area. The child and her father’s immigration case are linked. All claims will be heard before an immigration judge. ICE does not separate families. Parents are asked if they want to be removed with their children or ICE will place the children with a safe person the parent designates. This is consistent with past administration’s immigration enforcement.”
The mother said she still has hope her family could be granted asylum. If they don’t, they’ll brace for a future full of unknowns in Honduras.
Go here to see this report in Spanish.
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