Yorely Bernal, a Venezuelan mother, embraced her daughter Maikelys in an emotional reunion Wednesday. They hugged each other on the steps of the Miraflores presidential palace in Caracas, Venezuela. This bittersweet reunion came after almost a year of separation caused by U.S. immigration enforcement. Then, on May 14, 2024, Bernal and her two children landed in the United States. Soon after they arrived, immigration officials arrested her.
Upon her detention, U.S. authorities removed Maikelys from Bernal’s care just five days later, citing the mother’s upcoming immigration hearings as the reason for the separation. The impact of this decision has left Bernal heartbroken, as she was deported from the U.S. in mid-March without her daughter in her arms. Even though she was the one navigating the unique challenges of being separated, Maikelys stayed in foster care in the US.
While they were separated, Maikelys had very little contact with Bernal. His check-ins were 30-minute in-person appointments and weekly video check-ins—all monitored by ICE officials. Even within those limitations Bernal fostered optimism through these exchanges.
“There were just so many times that I thought my daughter wasn’t going to arrive,” she remarked.
Months went by before Maikelys was able to video chat with her mother for the first time. Even with the long wait, Bernal’s excitement for their reunion never went away.
That miracle they prescribed to me yesterday, that was some powerful stuff, Incredible Hulk type stuff. There are enough words to describe her daughter on Saturday after they’d been reunited in Mexico City.
It was first lady of Venezuela Cilia Flores who ensured the emotional reunion. She accompanied Maikelys back home to Bernal at the presidential palace. This emotionally charged moment marked an important turning point for Rai’s family. They had suffered unimaginably deep deprivation and doubt in the years they were separated from one another.
Though Bernal couldn’t have asked for a better ending to her ordeal, she has yet to receive a decision that will permanently secure her family’s future. Her partner Maiker Espinoza is still being held at CECOT. Bernal is determined and certain that he’ll be with them shortly.
“I know that he is going to be here, because he promised me,” she said.
