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An image can capture a human drama better than a thousand words. The photograph of Heydi Sánchez Tejeda, Cuban mother deported from the United States to Cuba, taken by the Reuters agency and published by journalist Javier Díaz, has sparked a wave of emotion on social media.
In the image, Heydi appears devastated, crying uncontrollably after being separated from her baby, whom she was still breastfeeding at the time of her deportation. A cellphone in her hand may indicate that moments before the photo was taken, the mother had been speaking with her husband, Carlos Yuniel Valle, and her little one.
“Heartbreaking is the suffering of this Cuban mother after being separated from her daughter,” Díaz wrote on Instagram. The post has been widely shared, reigniting the outrage that this case provoked since April 10, when Sánchez was detained after attending a migration appointment in Tampa, Florida.
Despite having no criminal record and caring for a one-year-old daughter, the immigration authorities proceeded with her deportation on April 23. Her husband and the child remain in the United States, while she tries to adjust to a reality that feels foreign to her after years away from the island.
In exclusive interviews with CiberCuba, Heydi stated: “My daughter is my life. The day they took her away, they ripped my soul out.” She also reported that she was handcuffed and treated like a criminal, even while trying to explain that she was a nursing mother.
The lawyer Claudia Cañizares has detailed that her legal team is working to reverse the deportation. As she explained, the Cuban mother may have legal options to return under exceptional measures.
The case has reached Congress. The Cuban-American legislator María Elvira Salazar demanded immediate reunification and harshly criticized the immigration authorities for what she described as an "inhumane" action.
Meanwhile, her husband in Miami has launched a public campaign and has the support of organizations and members of the Cuban community in exile.
The story of Heydi Sánchez not only reflects the personal drama of a mother, but also the gaps and rigidities of the U.S. immigration system when confronted with urgent and humanitarian family realities.
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