HOUSTON (AP)-United States of AmericaS.
The government's interim system reunites immigrant families separated at the border, and has put hundreds of parents in trouble after they are considered "ineligible" to bring their children back.
They include a 2-year-
Because the agent did not believe that he was a father and forced him to submit DNA evidence to prove that he was a parent, he was taken away.
Hundreds of parents have been deported, including a family in Honduras, whose 11-year-
Old kids are still in AmericaS.
A father in Guatemala wants his children to stay in the United States. S.
Because it's safer.
A woman gave her son to her aunt, who is still in immigration detention due to her prior deportation.
The government and the American Civil Liberties Union are fighting a court battle on how best to unify the family. U. S.
Local Judge Dana Sabraw said on Friday that the government's responsibility is completely uniform.
"The reality is that for every parent who is not there, there will be a permanent orphan, which is 100% of the government's responsibility," the judge said . ".
The Associated Press interviewed immigrants and their lawyers who remained separated from their children in multiple countries to learn about the various ways in which the government could not meet the court
Set a deadline for family reunion
This is their story: not their parents. The government says they have encountered several cases where adults crossed the border with their children and were not biological parents.
They were deemed ineligible for reunion.
According to the government, at least one person in Guatemala was wanted for murder and others were charged with various crimes.
There is at least one obvious error in one case.
Mario Perez dominguo and his 2-year-
The old daughter entered Texas in July 5.
Although the Trump administration has officially ended its policy of dividing families at the border, Perez has been arrested and accused of improperly entering the United States.
Agents thought Perez was an uncle, not a father, and the Texas Civil Rights program intervened to prove the government was wrong. U. S.
The Customs and Border Protection agency issued a statement saying Perez admitted in an inquiry that the child was actually his niece and that the smugglers had given him a false document in Guatemala, their home country.
But the project says Perez is from an indigenous community and has a poor grasp of Spanish.
After the group obtained documents from the consulate in Guatemala proving that he was a parent, the United StatesS.
On July 12, counsel dismissed the charges against Perez.
On Wednesday, the group received news that DNA tests confirmed that Perez was the girl's father.
But Mr. Perez is still in custody, his daughter is in a government shelter in Texas.
Many parents said they signed the deportation document after being told they would get their children back to their home country, just to break that promise.
The government says the parents of about 400 children are not in the United States. S.
Most likely deported.
11-year-old Eduardo almenares Meyer often saw other children leave the government facilities where he was held and return to their parents.
On the phone back to Honduras, he asked his mother if she would see her again.
It has been more than two months since he and his father, Douglas almenares, were separated in Texas.
Almendarez returned to Honduras on June 13.
His wife Evelyn Rosanna Meyer, who stayed at the grocery store near his hometown to run, said that when he signed the deportation document, he was told that his son would wait in Honduras
After arriving at San Pedro Sura, almenares waited at the airport for several days without any news.
It took a few weeks for people from the United StatesS.
Call to say Eduardo is at a shelter in Brownsville, Texas.
Eventually, they got a number that could call him twice a week for 10 minutes each time.
His mother said Eduardo couldn't sleep at first and cried on the phone saying he wanted to go home.
Since then, he calmed down and made friends, but his anxiety was rising as he watched his friends leave the sanctuary one by one.
"He has been suffering, as I did with his mother," Meyer said . ".
"They should not be allowed to do so.
When the mother was locked up, the child asked, "where is the mother ? " The government believes that 444 children were released in other appropriate circumstances.
"These situations include dismissal from sponsors other than parents, usually relative, including the situation where" parents are not eligible for reunion.
"After the children of some parents have been handed over to sponsors, it seems that the government has refused to release them because these parents have been taken away from the United States before. S.
Come back for asylum.
San Antonio
At least two such cases are based at the Center for Human Rights for migration.
A woman still in detention is Vivian, 24. year-
The old woman from Honduras entered the United StatesS.
At the end of April, she-year-
The son gave her aunt.
Vivian, for fear of endangering her immigration case, only asked to identify her by her name, who had previously been deported in November 2016.
Her aunt said she cried and called every day from the detention center.
Her aunt called her son so Vivian could repeat the story they agreed to tell him: she went to work but would come back to him soon with a hug of toys.
"When he goes to bed, he always says, 'Mom sleeps in the place next to me, 'and he starts to cry," his aunt said . ".
Sara Ramey, director of the immigration center, received a letter from ICE this week denying Vivian's request for release, without further explanation.
Ramey is working with another detained mother while her adopted son is with her adult daughter.
Some parents say they hope their children will if they can't stay in the US.
The government says these immigrants have given up reunification, which has reduced their status.
Selvin Argueta Caal said his son left Guatemala after receiving death threats from several gang members at school.
They want little Selvin.
Drugs, but 17-year-old refused.
They were detained and separated at the border on May 19, the day after their arrival.
During his detention by the government, the father requested asylum and told the immigration officer that he was concerned about his son's life in Guatemala but requested to be rejected.
He was deported to Guatemala and his son was sent to the migrant children's shelter in Houston.
Caal wanted his nephew to take his son in, but the relative was apparently rejected by the government as a potential sponsor.
When he is 18, he will no longer be allowed into the sanctuary and his future will be in doubt.
Caal said he gave up unity, but since he did not read or speak English and no one translated documents to him, he did not know what he had signed.
"I hope he is at least free, can learn and work, and no longer in danger," Caal said . ".
"Although he is far away, he is safe without the bad things that happen here.
Watson reports from San Diego and Solomon reports from Miami.
Associated Press reporter Garance Burke contributed to the report in San Francisco and San Spagat in San Diego.
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