By Robert MooreJune 26, 2018
EL PASO — Miriam hasn’t seen her 5-year-old son since June 16, when she was arrested for crossing the border illegally and border agents took the boy away. She tried to call him Monday at the New York shelter where he’s staying, but she could only talk to his social worker.
“He is a little boy,” she said, her voice breaking. “I asked to talk to him but he is mad with me. He didn’t want to talk to me because he thinks I have abandoned him.”
Miriam, of Guatemala, was among a group of five parents at the Casa Vides migrants’ shelter here who spoke about being separated from their children at the border, something they described as heartbreaking and terrifying. Thirty-two Central American parents were taken here Sunday after misdemeanor immigration charges against them were dropped and they were freed while their immigration cases move forward. Officials at Annunciation House, the El Paso nonprofit that runs Casa Vides, said the five parents agreed to speak publicly, but asked only that their first names be used because they fear retribution as they try to reunite with their children.