After his wife and stepdaughter were taken into federal custody at the beginning of June during what he claims was a routine immigration check-in, a father from Los Angeles has spoken out about the incident.
“One moment we’re laughing, we’re together, and now… I have to adapt to a sudden change,” said Roberto Gutierrez. “It’s really a roller coaster ride.”
After his family was torn apart on June 4, he claims that the past two weeks have been filled with confusion and heartache. He reports that this has been the case.
Both his wife and his daughter, who was nine years old and from El Salvador, were attempting to obtain asylum in the United States, but their request was denied. In spite of this, they continued to harbor the hope that something would improve in the future.
To ensure that we are acting in accordance with the law, we have established a family petition. Therefore, if we do not check in, it will be detrimental to the petition as a whole,” Gutierrez stated. With no other options available to us… We had the option of not showing up, but we would have preferred to proceed in a different manner.
During the month of December 2024, they submitted the petition, and they were informed that the processing time could be as long as two years. Gutierrez stated that the two were taken into custody despite the fact that they had already followed all of the rules, which resulted in his wife being separated from their 16-month-old child.
“I hear my baby screaming, ‘Mama, mama,'” he said in response. “It’s at least three, four times a day.”
Both of them, according to Gutierrez, were moved to a detention center in Texas, which is located more than a thousand miles away from their primary residence and their daughter. In the meantime, he and the baby, who are both citizens of the United States, are left waiting for answers because they are only able to communicate with each other over the phone.
The number of criminals that you could deport is sufficient. People with driving under the influence of alcohol, whatever,” he said. “But the people trying to do it the right way, just give them a chance.”
His decision to speak out, he explained, was not motivated by politics or paperwork, but rather by his desire to protect his family.
“Every baby needs her mom, and every mom without her baby … they’re going to be suffering,” he explained to reporters.
The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been contacted for a statement regarding the matter; however, they have not yet provided a response.
