After Being Separated At U.S.-Mexico Border, One Family Is Reunited In Honduras
Carlos Alexis Hernandez Licona in Tegucigalpa. Photo by Jesse Costa for WBUR
A 6-year-old boy has been reunited with his family in Honduras after nearly five months in federal custody. The boy was separated from his father in May after the two illegally crossed the U.S. southern border in McAllen, Texas.
Hoping to find work, Carlos Alexis Hernandez Licona came to the U.S. and brought his young son, Carlos Gabriel Hernandez, with him. As a result of President Trump’s now-defunct family separation policy, Licona was deported back to Honduras while Carlos Gabriel was held in federal custody in New York. The boy arrived back to his father in San Pedro Sula on Friday.
Licona was on a bus, taking his son to a doctor’s appointment, when we reached him on a scratchy phone line.
“I’m ecstatic to have my family together again, and I praise and thank the Lord and the community groups that helped this happen,” Licona said in Spanish. “They were able to achieve something incredible, to return my son to me again.”
He said his son’s health is poor, but that he’s thrilled to be home.