Politics
For children of deported parents, lonely journeys to a new home
By Gerard MARTINEZ,CHANDAN KHANNA,
Osvaldo (R) caregiver of six-year-old US citizen Andy (L) hugs him as the boy prepares to fly to Guatemala to reunite with his recently deported father /AFP
One recent day at Miami's international airport, Andy, age 6, was getting ready to fly to Guatemala.
He was anxious, this was no year-end vacation to visit his relatives.
Andy was moving to his ancestral country to reunite with his father, recently deported as part of President Donald Trump's aggressive policy to expel undocumented migrants.
"They took my brother and I've had to take care of the little one," said Osvaldo, Andy's uncle who brought him to the airport but was not getting on the plane with him.
Andy was making the trip with six other children aged 3 to 15 -- three of them US citizens, the others Guatemalans who grew up in Florida. They were all moving to a country where they either had never been, or one which they barely remembered.
The sprawling city of Miami on Florida's east coast is about 70 percent Hispanic, and often called the Gateway to Latin
The children are all moving to a country where they either have never been, or one which they barely remember /AFP
Across the United States, cities with large immigrant communities are primary targets of Trump's virulent anti-immigrant policies and rhetoric.
Trump's administration has deployed heavily armed and masked enforcement agents and onlookers have filmed them in various cities tackling people in the street or dragging them from cars.
Born in the United States, Andy is a US citizen. Until November, he lived with his father Adiner, who had been in Florida for a decade. His mother hasn't been in his life since the parents separated.
