Vivian Limonta Reyes, a Cuban mother of a two-year-old boy, was deported from the United States along with 47 others at the end of August. Since her return to the island, she has been living a nightmare, especially since her son had to undergo surgery in her absence, leaving her feeling helpless and desperate.
Immigration attorney Eduardo Soto, who is handling Limonta's case, blames the U.S. for mishandling the immigration process. He asserts that authorities violated their own laws by deporting her without ruling on the "motion to reopen" her case. "If you have a claim, you have the right to stay here until the appropriate waivers are interviewed and decided," Soto told Telemundo 51.
"There has to be a solution because one court says Miami has to hear our arguments, and Miami says it's Atlanta, someone has to listen," he added.
However, a statement sent to the same outlet by ICE claims that the last motion to reopen Limonta's case was filed on October 22, 2020, and was denied on October 28, instructing her deportation. "If the court accepts our arguments that there was a failure on the part of the court to notify her, then the case is reopened and she has the right to return to the U.S.," Soto concluded regarding the chances of Vivian Limonta's return.
For now, the distressed mother remains in Cuba, where she video calls her two-year-old son, who has been diagnosed with autism and recently underwent surgery at Nicklaus Children's Hospital, every day.
The Harsh Deportation
Limonta had been living in the United States since 2020 with an I-220B, which allowed her to stay in the country after entering irregularly. However, her life took a drastic turn during her fifth immigration appointment in Miramar. "On July 15, I went to sign, and at 12:30 a deportation officer came out and told me I was going to be transferred to Broward," Limonta previously recounted.
She was sent back to Cuba on August 27, after spending nearly a month at the Broward Detention Center. In earlier interviews, Limonta has pleaded from the island for immigration authorities to reconsider her case and allow her to return to her son and husband, Osmani Pérez, a Cuban nationalized American citizen, who has suddenly found himself as the sole provider and caretaker for their child.
"I can do everything possible as a father, but now I am both father and mother. I have to be the provider too. I don't know, a mother's love can't be replaced," Pérez lamented.
"I am genuinely very disappointed in this country. I've been here for 31 years, I am a citizen, and the boy was born here. I don't understand how they don't take that into account," Pérez added in an interview with the same media outlet.
The separation has been devastating for Vivian, who says she cannot stop thinking about her son and the difficult challenge her husband faces in caring for the child alone. "It's not fair what's happening. Today it was me and my two-year-old, but tomorrow it could be another mother. It's not fair to separate mothers from their children," said Vivian Limonta, who is pleading for a second chance, not just for herself but especially for the emotional well-being of her son, whose medical condition requires his mother's presence.
When the case became public in July, it was noted that Vivian was part of the MPP immigration program initiated by the United States in 2019. She had trouble attending an immigration appointment and was automatically issued a deportation in absentia. After four years, that I-220B document caught up with her.