A 10-year-old child alone at the border.Photo: Central Border Patrol
The crying 10-year-old Nicaraguan boyrecorded on viral video pleading for helpfrom border patrol earlier this year has been reunited with his mom, according to advocates and local news outlets.
The boy was reunited with his mother at La Posada Providencia. A Facebook post from the shelter shows a photo of the two together again.
“Prayers answered! All of us at La Posada Providencia, along with camera crew and media from various news sources waited eagerly as Meylin and her son … were reunited today at La Posada,” the caption of the photos read, along with a photo of the boy and his mom, Meylin.
“After nearly two months of separation, we are so happy that they are together again, and wish them well on their resettlement journey.”
The video shows the distraught boy crying to law enforcement and explaining that he had woken up to realize that the group with whom he was traveling had left him behind and alone.
“I came looking because I didn’t know where to go, and they can also rob or kidnap me or something,” he tells the officer in the video.
For many, the video helped put a human face on what has been a much debated and very complicated issue: the drastic increase in unaccompanied children at the U.S.-Mexico border.
In a recent interview, relatives toldThe Washington Postthat the boy and his mother hadattempted to crossthe southern border in March but were deported under Title 42, a Trump-era policy that allows Customs and Border Protection to expel migrants entering illegally to prevent the spread ofCOVID-19in holding facilities.
After mother and son were deported, relatives told thePostthey were kidnapped in Mexico and held for a $10,000 ransom.
Misael Obregón, the boy’s uncle, said he gave the captors $5,000, after which the boy was released but his mother remained with kidnappers. (She was released weeks later, according to an interview she gave toUnivision, and has reportedly been granted asylum in the U.S.)
U.S. Customs and Border Protection previously told PEOPLE that the child had been transported “to a Border Patrol facility where he was fed and medically screened,” and would be “safely transferred to the custody of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Refugee Resettlement.”
Asked if the boy had been taken out of U.S. custody, the Department of Health and Human Services said, “We do not comment on specific children. We are working with other partner agencies to safely receive, shelter, and transfer unaccompanied children who make the dangerous journey to the U.S. southwest border.”
TheHavana Timesreported that Lazaro Gutierez, the boy’s father, previously sought to have him returned to Nicaragua, filing a formal request that the boy be repatriated. But the boy’s uncle has since said on his YouTube channel that custody was given to Meylin.
Asked about the boy, White House Press Secretary Jen Psakisaid in a news conferencelast month: “What I can convey is, for any of us who have seen that video, it is heartbreaking.”
source: people.com
