More than a year after being deported to Cuba and separated from her daughter when the little one was still breastfeeding, Heydi Sánchez Tejeda continues to await a pathway that will allow her to return to the United States and permanently reunite with her family.
“No deny me the right to be a mother, please,” pleaded the Cuban in a report shared this Sunday by journalist Javier Díaz, who recalled that the case gained national attention when Sánchez was deported in April 2025.
"Let me be with my little girl. My girl is small and still needs me," expressed Sánchez, whose daughter was about 18 months old at the time of the separation and is currently three years old.
Sánchez arrived in the United States in 2019 through the southern border and remained in the country under immigration supervision with a I-220B document and a deportation order.
In April 2025, she attended an appointment with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Tampa, where she was detained and subsequently sent back to Cuba.
At that moment, Heydi came to publicly ask President Donald Trump to intervene to reunite her with her husband and baby.
My baby is small, she needs me, he expressed from Cuba.
The husband of the Cuban, Carlos Yuniel Valle, a U.S. citizen, described the situation facing the family as "sad" and assured that Sánchez had built a life in the United States, where she studied and worked before being deported.
"I wouldn't wish this on anyone in the world. No one should have to go through this," Valle stated.
The family received a sign of hope in June 2025, when the family petition submitted by her husband was approved but still has no date for the interview that would allow progress in that process.
However, that approval did not mean that Sánchez could return to the United States immediately.
Her husband then explained that this was just "the first step" and that the Cuban still needed to continue the consular process and request several immigration waivers.
Among the obstacles was the one resulting from his deportation, which can prevent reentry for several years unless the appropriate waiver is obtained.
More than a year later, the family petition remains approved, but Heydi remains in Cuba waiting to complete the process that will allow her to return.
While her immigration status remains unresolved, Heydi's daughter spends most of her time in the United States with her father, and according to the report, she is already starting to ask why her mother cannot be with her.
"How much longer do we have to wait? There is a little girl who is suffering; she is the one paying all the consequences," lamented Sánchez.
The separation had an immediate impact on the girl. Family members reported shortly after the deportation that the little girl appeared restless and constantly called for her mother, from whom she had practically never been separated until that moment.
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