Venezuela is demanding that a 2-year-old girl be returned to her family after the United States deported her parents and kept the toddler in government custody.
The Venezuelan foreign ministry on Monday accused the US of “kidnapping” Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, saying she was separated from her mother as she was boarding a deportation flight back to Venezuela.
It also said the girl’s father, Maiker Espinoza-Escalona, had been deported earlier by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador.
“(The US) once again committed the extremely serious offense of separating families and removing a minor from her emotional environment and, in particular, from her biological mother,” read a statement from the Venezuelan government on Monday.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) denied it kidnapped the girl, arguing it was trying to protect her from her parents, whom it accused without evidence of being part of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan gang the US has designated a terror organization.
In a Saturday statement, DHS said the toddler was removed from a deportation flight list “for her safety and welfare.” She remains in the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) and has been placed with a foster family, it added.
The toddler is one of several children to have been affected by the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Last week, three US citizen children — including a 4-year-old with metastatic cancer — were taken to Honduras with their undocumented mothers as the women were deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. White House border czar Tom Homan said the US removed the children because their mothers “requested” they stay with them rather than remain in the country.
It’s unclear if Maikelys’ mother was given the choice to be deported with her daughter.
A family separated
The toddler and her parents entered the US in May 2024 to seek asylum, according to a court document filed by legal advocacy groups.
On March 29, Maiker was sent to a naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where DHS has transferred migrants, according to court documents filed by his lawyers.
They said he was flown the following day to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot mega-prison, which the US is using to detain hundreds of Venezuelan migrants it accuses of being violent gang members, though it hasn’t provided strong evidence to back that claim.
The toddler’s mother was deported soon after Maiker was sent to El Salvador. She was forced to return to her country on a flight without her 2-year-old child, Venezuela said.
The girl was kept in ORR custody, with DHS saying, “We will not allow this child to be abused and continue to be exposed to criminal activity that endangers her safety.”
Without providing evidence, it alleged in Saturday’s statement that the father was a TDA lieutenant who oversaw various crimes including homicides and trafficking, and that the mother oversaw the recruitment of young women for drug smuggling and prostitution.
Rising anger in Venezuela
Venezuela accused the US of violating international law and said it would take all legal and diplomatic measures to secure the girl’s return.
Its government demanded the “immediate release” of the child and “that the rule of law and the basic rights of our little girl be restored.”
It cited the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states in part that children should not be separated from their parents against their will unless such separation is necessary for the best interests of the child. The US has signed the convention but has not ratified it.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro insists the US is unjustly holding the child. He announced that a march intended for International Workers’ Day on May 1 would become a rally to demand her release.
“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 in Caracas Monday, referring to the Venezuelan migrants the US has deported to the Salvadoran prison.