CARACAS - María Alejandra Rubio hasn’t seen her son in five months. They were separated in the United States when she was detained to be deported to her native Venezuela and he was sent to live with a family friend.
Rubio said US immigration authorities led her to believe she would board a plane to Venezuela with her eight-year-old son, Anyerson. But she made the hours-long journey last month without him. Heartbroken, Rubio is now part of a group of Venezuelan mothers and grandmothers appealing to US first lady Melania Trump to help them see their children and grandchildren again. Members of the group, backed by Venezuela’s government, say they sent Trump a letter seeking her assistance last month. “He tells me, ‘Mom, I want to be with you. I want to return to my country with you,’” Rubio said of her calls with Anyerson, who is in Georgia. “So, I would really like the first lady to put her hand on her heart and answer our letter.” Trump’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request from The Associated Press (AP) seeking comment on the letter. Venezuela’s government on Thursday told the AP the letter, dated August 18, was sent to the White House via a private mail delivery service. “We ask you as mothers to raise our voices, to help our children return to their homes, to be a bridge to the justice and humanity that you yourself call for,” members of the group wrote, according to a copy of the letter shared with the AP. “We ask you to listen to the cries of families, to stop this separation policy from continuing, to simply deport mothers along with their children.” (Jamaica Gleaner)
