ONLY ON ABC7NEWS.COM: 'My baby couldn't sleep for three weeks,' A mom's nightmare 2 months after being separated from her daughter by ICE
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A Honduran mother and her one-year-old daughter were reunited after being separated by ICE.
Walking with an ankle monitor attached to her right leg is Sindy Flores. She says her every move is being tracked by U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement.
Flores was reunited with 18-month-old Gretchen Juliet on January 29th at San Francisco International Airport. The baby was taken from the father at the U.S. Mexico border. It took more than a month for Sindy to find her daughter through immigration records. The baby had been taken to an immigration shelter in Texas.
"For more than three weeks after I got her, she wouldn't sleep at night. She didn't want anyone to approach her. It was difficult," said Flores.
The family fled Honduras after Flores says gang members threatened her family. Two months after her reunification, Flores says she is taking Gretchen to therapy once a week. "Ever since she was given back to me, I haven't been able to change her diaper without Gretchen screaming. She didn't use to do this," said Flores.
The 23-year-old mom is struggling to find a place to live and can't work without a legal permit. Crystal Suarez, the Director of Family Resource Centers and Behavioral Health in the Mission, says many migrant parents like Flores also face trauma.
"When you do experience trauma, you can't say that after a certain amount of time they are going to overcome it," said Suarez. More than 200 migrant families receive mental help at this Center every year.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they could not speak specifics about this case and added, "ICE looks at every case individuality on its own merits and it makes decisions based on the factors on that specific case."
When I first interviewed Flores two months ago, she said crossing the border and being separated from Gretchen wasn't worth it. So, we asked her again, "I don't know that I can answer that question now..."
Next Tuesday, Sindy Flores is scheduled to meet with an immigration judge to speak about the next steps of her case.
