Deported to Danger: Ana's Story
As a child, Ana witnessed her father physically and emotionally abuse her mother and lived in fear. When she was 13 years old, Ana’s father sexually abused and raped her and threatened to kill Ana and her mother if they told anyone. Fearing for her life and the safety of her younger sister, Ana disclosed the sexual abuse to her grandmother. They reported the rape to the police which led to her father’s incarceration. However, this act of bravery resulted in Ana receiving death threats from her father and her paternal uncle. In addition to dealing with depression, fear, anxiety and isolation, Ana also had to endure mistreatment by family and community members who blamed her for the rape and incarceration. In search of safety, Ana fled Honduras for the United States with her mother when she was 16 years old.
They made it to the U.S. border in 2019, but Customs and Border Patrol officials forced them to stay in Mexico under the Remain in Mexico policy and prevented them from lawfully seeking protection. Ana and her mother lived in danger in Matamoros while they waited for their turn to appear in a tent court and make an appeal for safety. Ana did not feel safe in Matamoros and avoided going anywhere alone. She and her mother couldn’t find an attorney and had to attend their court hearings unrepresented. Ana was afraid to speak and tell her story in court because her hearing was held via video streaming with no privacy for her to share the details of her painful story in a child-appropriate setting. As a result, Ana and her mother were denied asylum.
After they were sent back across the border, Ana witnessed a group of men attempting to kidnap her friend. Following these events, Ana suffered from depression, anxiety, night terrors, and poor sleep. While they considered next steps, conditions in Matamoros deteriorated. Fearful for her life, Ana returned to the border alone in a final, desperate attempt to ask for protection. Because her mother remained in Matamoros, Ana was designated as an unaccompanied child, was placed in government custody and was assigned a Young Center Child Advocate.
In April 2020, despite our advocacy and ignoring the fact that she had an appeal pending, ICE informed us that Ana would be deported with just two days' notice. Within minutes of our call to action on social media, thousands of our supporters raised their voices, advocating for an immediate halt to Ana’s deportation. Despite our best efforts, Ana was taken from the shelter in the middle of the night and deported to the same dangers she had fled on April 24, 2020.
Child’s name has been changed to protect her privacy.