Guatemalan children reunite with deported parents

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Nine Guatemalan children separated from their parents at the US border under President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" immigration policy were flown home on Tuesday and reunited with their deported families, Guatemala's government said.

Nazario Jacinto Carrillo, a farmer from the village of Huehuetenango, embraced his daughter, who is five and a half years old, after what he said was their three-month separation since he was deported back to Guatemala and she remained in the US.

"I thought 'this is wrong because they've taken away my daughter'," said Carrillo. His daughter was in San Diego, he said.

Parents and friends await the arrival of their children, who were sent back from detention on Tuesday, after they were separated at the US border, in Guatemala City, August 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I feel at peace, happy, content," he said as he held his daughter in his arms and covered her with a blanket so she could not be photographed.

The nine children, aged 6 to 14, were flown to Guatemala City from New York. They were the first Guatemalan children to be returned to their home country after being separated under the policy, said Guatemala's social welfare ministry.

The US government proposed on August 2 that non-profit groups should take the lead in locating as many as 500 parents deported or removed from the US without their children.

Nazario Jacinto carries his daughter Filomena (L) after she was returned in Guatemala City, August 7, 2018. /VCG Photo

"I really missed my mom. When they separated us I felt really sad," said six-year-old Leo Jeancarlo de Leon after being reunited with his mother. "Now I want to go play with my toys."

The boy's mother, Lourdes de Leon, said the harrowing experience was a "torment" for the both of them.

"I want to go home. I'm happy," said the visibly relieved mother. "We just want to be together a while."

One migrant minor who had been separated from their family on the US border draws in a welcome room, upon arrival at La Aurora airport in Guatemala City, August 7, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

Some 2,500 children were separated from their families as part of Trump's strict policy toward illegal immigration that began in early May. Many of the families, which fled to the US to escape widespread violence at home, had crossed the border illegally, while others had sought asylum.

The Trump Administration ended the family separations in June after weeks of international outcry over the policy.

About 1,900 children had been reconnected with their parents or a sponsor by August 3.

Source(s): Reuters