Overview

• Two-year-old Maikelys Espinoza was reunited with her mother, Yorely Bernal, in Caracas on May 14, after spending a year in U.S. foster care following her parents' deportation.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security justified the separation by alleging the parents' ties to Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, though no evidence has been publicly provided.
• Maikelys's father, Maiker Espinoza, was transferred to El Salvador's CECOT prison in March under the Alien Enemies Act, a controversial wartime law invoked by the Trump administration.
• Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores welcomed the child’s return, calling it a “profoundly humane act of justice” while condemning the separation as a “kidnapping.”
• The case has drawn international criticism, highlighting concerns over immigration enforcement, family separation, and due process under U.S. deportation policies.