The Venezuelan family is asking for the 2-year-old to be returned to their mother after deporting her mother to Venezuela without children on Friday.
The girl's father was sent to a prison in El Salvador in March.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, infants Meikelis Antonella Espinoza Bernal remain foster parents in the United States. Authorities said in a statement that the child was taken away by her parents and from her mother's deportation manifesto for her own “safety and welfare.”
The Trump administration claims that the girl's parents are members of Venezuelan gangster Tren de Aragua, but no evidence has been provided to support this.
The girl known to many in her family as Antonella is one of several children who have been wiped out by the recent crackdown on President Trump's immigration. At least three American citizens were sent to Honduras this month with their mother. This is a decision protested by a family lawyer.
For a Venezuelan toddler, Yorelyely Bernal, the girl's mother, age 20, enrolled in the United States in May 2024 with her partner, maker Espinoza and her child, but President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was still in office.
According to the couple's relatives, authorities told them that tattoos looked suspicious to them and that they had sent them to detain them and raise a girl.
During Trump's first administration, family separation at the border caused anger and legal challenges, and ultimately stopped being used as an inclusive policy. However, in a limited example during the Biden administration, the separation continued when authorities believed there was a threat to children.
It is unclear why authorities separated the family last year. Record searches show that neither parent has a criminal history in Venezuela or Peru. In the United States, couples live only in immigrant detention.
In 2022, Espinoza, now 25, was arrested in Peru for allegations of domestic violence, but records show that he was closed and not faced trial.
US authorities sent Espinoza to El Salvador on March 30 on one of five planes carrying Venezuelan men to the largest security prison. The Trump administration claims that all Venezuelan men on those flights are members of Tren de Aragua, which provides little evidence of this.
In late April, Bernal called his mother, Raida Inciarte. Inciarte said in an interview to tell her she was being deported to Venezuela. American officials told Bernal that Antonella would be with her, Inciarte said.
On a video call, Bernal showed his mother documents from immigration authorities, who named Antonella.
However, Bernal, who boarded an expelling flight to Venezuela's capital, Caracas, on April 25th, had not been there.
From her home in Maracaibo, Venezuela, Inciarte called on the US government to release her child. (Inciarte is in contact with caseworkers and foster parents, she said.
Her daughter said she arrived at her house in Maracaibo on Sunday and spent Monday morning crying in her bedroom.
“That little girl,” she said of the toddler, “I have a family that suffers every day for a year.”
The infant is under the supervision of the Refugee Resettlement Bureau, referring to a portion of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officials in that office introduced all the questions to DHS.
The Trump administration never said when the child would be reunited with her family.
In its statement, Homeland Security said Espinoza is the “intermediate EU” of Tren de Aragua, who oversees criminal operations, including a “home of torture,” and Bernal directed “recruiting young women for drug smuggling and prostitution.”
“President Trump and Secretary Noem are responsible for serious protection of children,” the statement said, referring to Christy Noem, the department's secretary. “We do not allow this child to be abused. We will continue to be exposed to criminal acts that put her safety at risk.”
Espinoza's younger sister, 31, Maria Alejandra Fernandez, said, “My brother is not a criminal. He like many young people is leaving Venezuela and looking for opportunities to move forward.”
The department did not respond to requests for details regarding the gang connection allegations.
Inciarte said the infant's first foster parents were in the El Paso area. However, Antonella had recently been placed in a new home, Inciarte said her foster parents told her, and now she doesn't know where the house is.
The new foster parents did not respond to messages from the New York Times.
The Trump administration said Tren de Aragua had “invaded” the United States. The president is using it to justify the rapid deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans and fulfill the campaign's promise to take a strict line against undocumented immigrants.
Bernal and Espinoza escaped the economic and political crisis at their home in Venezuela, and their families met while they lived in Peru. She worked at a fast food stand. His sister, Fernandez, who lives in Venezuela, worked as a floor by and even opened a business as a barber.
Antonella was born in Lima on February 8, 2023. According to her birth certificate, she lists the couple as parents. When the girl was 1, Bernal and Espinoza decided to follow the growing trend of immigration to the United States, their families said.
Pay was low in Peru, Inciarte said, and things weren't improving in Venezuela.
“They were excited,” she said, “and tried to pursue American dreams.”
The couple left Peru and towed along with their children and crossed the Darien Jungle, which connects Colombia's Ecuador, South America and Panama and Central America. In Mexico, they were temporarily invited to what Espinoza's sister described as a “coyote” or immigrant trafficker.
Last May, the family said the two had turned themselves to the US border.
From custody, Bernal called on his mother to believe the authorities believe her tattoo.
But he said it was his family that became more specific to the charges until Trump took office. The government believed they were members of Tren de Aragua.
Bernal's tattoos include the year of birth of their parents, lightning, a small flame and a snake, which are carved around their necks, their mother said. Espinoza's tattoo includes cartoon character Yosemite Sam and Marvin, a Martian, according to a statement issued with authorities.
Internal government documents show that US authorities cite tattoos to label people as members of Tren de Aragua, but there is little evidence that gangs use tattoos as markers of membership.
Last year, in a conversation with her foster parents, Inciarte said. The parents said they described Antonella as “sweet” and “independent” for their toddlers. However, they also stated that when she moved among the family, the girl seemed to cry and confused about who she belonged to.
This was painful for her grandmother, who was worried about “psychological damage,” she said.
“Today, she's waking up with one mother,” she said.
Mitra Taj contributed to the report from Lima, Peru, and Hamed Aleaziz contributed to the report from Washington. Sheelagh McNeill contributed to the research.
