Three Immigrant Siblings Separated from their Mother Take a Step Toward Reunification

A ruling by a California judge means migrant children separated from their parents while illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border must be reunited within 30 days. For three siblings WNYC has been following in New York, that could happen as soon as next week.

Attorney Jose Xavier Orochena said his client, Yeni Garcia-Gonzalez, is expected to post bond this week. She's been in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention for more than a month and is currently at a facility in Eloy, Arizona. Orochena is scheduled to go there on Thursday to make sure the bond is fully paid and that she's released. He said someone in New York had raised money to help her. He will then bring her to New York to see her children.

The children, ages 6, 9 and 11, have spent the past month in foster care with Cayuga Centers in East Harlem. Orochena was frustrated that he wasn't allowed to talk to them by phone or visit them in person. But on Wednesday he finally got to meet them in Cayuga's office for about a half hour. 

"I checked for bite marks on the skin," he said. "I asked them if they eat they say yes, the oldest boy tells me he likes cereal, the youngest boy prefers pancakes."

He showed WNYC a photo he took of them for their mother. They wore white, pink and red T-shirts and jeans and were smiling.  But Orochena said the middle child, the daughter, cried a little. "Tears were coming down her eyes and I said 'don’t worry, don’t worry it’s going to be fine, give me a smile."

He said he told them they would see their mother soon, but didn't want to raise false hopes by giving a date. 

He also learned that all three have been staying with the same foster family since their arrival in New York about a month ago, and that they attend English classes with other children at Cayuga during the day =n

The family of four was originally detained in Texas after leaving Guatemala. Orochena said Garcia-Gonzalez plans to pursue an asylum claim. But he's not sure if the kids can be released to her within the new court-ordered 30 days because there's so much red tape, including a thorough background check. He said it would probably be faster to release the children directly to their aunt in North Carolina, because she's already near the end of the same process to become a sponsor. The mother could then join the children and their aunt and wait in North Carolina for her asylum hearings.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement, which contracts with the foster agencies and is in charge of the children, did not return a request for comment. Neither did Cayuga Centers.

Orochena said he's glad things are finally moving along for the mother and for the kids. "I have no doubt that they are being fed. I have no doubt that there getting a place to sleep, eat, on that front I’m happy," he said. "I won’t be satisfied or happy until mom gets to take her kids home."