In this radio segment from NRP, the host follows up with a Guatemalan family who spent three months in detention in the US and have since returned to Guatemala, discussing the impacts that family separation has had on them one year later. The segment features an interview with Rudy Ramirez, who fled Guatemala with his wife, son, and niece after his family received death threats after his wife's brother was murdered, making their way to the United States. "As was the policy in the late spring, early summer of 2018, the kids were taken from Ramirez. His son Rudy Jr., then 9, was sent to a shelter in New York. His niece Jimena, 12 at the time, was sent to one in Florida." After three months, the children were released from the shelters and returned to their mothers and stayed in the US with them for a period.
"When immigration got me, there were a lot of children separated from their parents. They cried so much," said Jimena."I don't think it's right that they did that." Rudy Sr. was eventually deported back to Guatemala and the two children returned as well. "'I missed him so much,' says Ramirez, 'and I'm so relieved he's back.' But he says their family won't be complete until they're reunited with his wife who is still fighting for asylum in the U.S."