One Family’s Reunification Story

[0] From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro.

[1] This is the Daily.

[2] Today, since President Trump ended his policy of separating migrant children from their parents, very few families have actually been reunited, which is why there is so much attention around those that have.

[3] It's Friday, July 6th.

[4] This call is being recorded.

[5] If you do not wish to be recorded, please disconnect at the time.

[6] this time.

[7] Jenny, me again what what's the kids and I asked a lot and I'm with my children and my didn't have been what they said.

[8] What are their kids?

[9] They're are not expected to be with me the nana call and me and me mommy, I want to be to be with you I don't want to here.

[10] Okay, do me a favor me call me again.

[11] All all Okay, Jenny.

[12] Thank you, God bless you.

[13] Thank you one minute.

[14] Okay.

[15] Adios.

[16] Bye.

[17] My name is Annie Coriall.

[18] I'm a reporter on the Metro desk, and I met Jenny on Monday.

[19] Her full name is Jenny Gonzalez.

[20] She's a migrant from Guatemala, and she had traveled across Guatemala and Mexico to Arizona, where after crossing the border, she was picked up by Border Patrol, along with her three children, Lester.

[21] Yamelin and De Wien.

[22] They're 11, 9, and 6, and taken into detention.

[23] A few days after being held together, the kids were sleeping on the ground, and they were woken up and taken from her.

[24] So Beth, last week you brought us the story of one lawyer who's representing a mother in detention in Arizona and her three children who are in foster care here in New York.

[25] Has he been able to reunite that family yet?

[26] No, he hasn't.

[27] Jamie.

[28] The lawyer's name is Jose Javier Arrochena.

[29] And this lawyer, Jose Arachina, he hears about Jenny's case from one of her relatives.

[30] And after getting nowhere, he decides to talk to the media and call attention to what's going on.

[31] His story suddenly had legs.

[32] And it was on WNYC radio.

[33] But now he called me today and he said, it looks like he will meet with them very soon.

[34] He also had his first phone call with the mom.

[35] She's in the Eloy Detention Center in Arizona.

[36] She's from Guatemala.

[37] She wants asylum.

[38] So Jose tells reporters that the judge in Arizona has set Jenny's bond at $7 ,500.

[39] And a writer here in New York hears that on the radio and decides to launch a crowdfunding effort, a GoFundMe campaign on her behalf.

[40] Ladies and gentlemen, success.

[41] We did it.

[42] We did it.

[43] We did it.

[44] This paper, this stack of papers, means that Yanny is approved for release today.

[45] She's officially been in detention since May 18th.

[46] So, yeah, she's on her way.

[47] We'll be on her way here so.

[48] And within days, they had raised enough money not only to cover her bond, but to actually finance a road trip from Arizona to New York City and join her kids.

[49] So everything shifted, and I decided to fly to Pittsburgh to meet Jenny for the last leg of her trip.

[50] So we are just leaving Pittsburgh.

[51] I'm in the car with Jenny and a few other journalists and our driver, Jorge, who is one of the volunteers who has driven Jenny all the way from Arizona to her destination, New York City, where we are scheduled to arrive tonight.

[52] We are all squeezed into an SUV and I sort of seated right next to Jenny and I start just making small talk.

[53] So Jenny's telling me that she left on May 14th, from her town in Guatemala.

[54] with her three kids, and they took a bus all the way across Guatemala.

[55] She decided to leave with her three children so that they could be safe and have a future in the United States.

[56] And she said if she had known, she never would have made this trip.

[57] She had no idea that zero tolerance was in effect, that there was this policy of separating children from their parents.

[58] it had gone into effect only about a week before she set out.

[59] So she had no idea, and neither did the mothers that she was with.

[60] So Jenny tells me that once they were picked up by Border Patrol, they were taken to a detention center in Yuma.

[61] And just a half hour after arriving, they were told by an agent that they were going to be separated, that the government was going to take her children and that she was going to be deported to Guatemala.

[62] And once her children heard that, they started crying and she was trying to console them.

[63] They finally took her children at 5 a .m. on the morning of May 23rd.

[64] She wasn't asleep.

[65] She was awake.

[66] She said she couldn't sleep, but the children were sleeping on the floor.

[67] and agents came in and they took the children and she said that she was crying and they took them and shut the door.

[68] So then what happened to you?

[69] You know, do you know where they were taken sort of to a cell?

[70] She says where there were so many mothers that it was difficult to walk.

[71] She bonded specifically with other mothers.

[72] from Guatemala.

[73] And she's told me their stories.

[74] She was really eager to talk about what had happened to them.

[75] In L .O .A., they would only give them soup, this sort of runny soup, at 7 a .m. and 7 p .m. And so sometimes she wouldn't eat at all, and she couldn't get the food down, and she would just take one or two spoonfuls as if it was medicine.

[76] At one point, she saw them fill the soup with water from the hose, go around and add water.

[77] She said that they all slept very little, and they lost track of what time of day it was.

[78] They said the lights were always on, and sometimes they'd be startled to learn that it was 1 p .m. when they thought it was the dead of night and vice versa.

[79] And so they were living in this kind of perpetual twilight.

[80] Some of the mothers were fasting as a sort of sacrifice or a way to supplicate so that God might have mercy on them and reunite them with their children.

[81] She said that at the beginning there had been children among them and slowly there were no children left.

[82] One detail she shared with me that I remembered is that when she couldn't eat the soup anymore she asked an agent or a guard if she could have a cookie or a cracker, and he said to her, no, those are just for the children.

[83] And she felt that was a small cruelty, given that there were no children there anymore when he told her that.

[84] And even there were various nights that we'd, sometimes, we didn't do not do, because for me So we're near So we're near Allentown, and we've hit a little traffic.

[85] And Yenny's telling me that she has talked to her kids just a few times.

[86] And when she spoke to her daughter, Yamelin, she said that she was having chest pains.

[87] And she was told that her mom told her, Jenny told her just cry just get all the emotions out and she said mom if they if I cry I get in trouble and they tell me that my my case is going to take longer.

[88] So she was told that she wasn't allowed to cry.

[89] Well Jenny, we'll take a I'm, for me it difficult to tell my story because it's like it's like, I asked Jenny whether we should keep going or take a break, and she said that she'd rather take a break because telling the story means reliving it.

[90] So we're going to take a little break.

[91] This mountain is.

[92] Paz, tranquillity.

[93] Not all is mal.

[94] Is that thunder?

[95] I think it's going to rain.

[96] There's just green as far as you can see and the mountains rising in the distance, but they're very dark thunder clouds, and it looks like it might start raining soon.

[97] As we were driving, I kind of tried to see America through Jenny's eyes, what this country looked like for someone who may never have imagined all the places she was seeing cities and towns and vast open spaces.

[98] I asked her what did it all look like to her when she looked out the window, and she said, peace.

[99] As far as we know, this isn't happening for a whole lot of mothers.

[100] She is kind of the exception, not the rule, because while their parents being held around the country, they are not necessarily being reunited with their kids.

[101] And for that reason, there's this unusual, intensity around her case.

[102] She is one Guatemalan mother going to see her three children, and all sorts of crazy stuff is happening.

[103] She's gotten the cell phone from her lawyer, but it's also blowing up with calls from people who she doesn't recognize.

[104] So we just got a call from a reporter for Vosamerica who wants to go.

[105] find Jenny's family in Guatemala.

[106] So Jenny's saying that...

[107] We are getting calls from journalists and I end up having to sort of field all of her phone calls.

[108] Okay, thank you.

[109] Bye.

[110] Hello.

[111] We're on the road and she gets a call from Adriano Espiyadh, a congressman.

[112] And she doesn't even know who this is.

[113] Hey Jose, how are you?

[114] Good, thank you.

[115] So I think we're about four hours from Newark, and I guess we're going to meet Cory Booker there.

[116] That's the plan.

[117] I don't know if it'll happen, but I think that's part of the plan.

[118] It's almost like we're traveling with a political candidate.

[119] You know, Pantsuit Nation is involved, and there are 1 ,300 likes in the last hour, and so all this information is filtering in very much, as I would imagine, would happen on a political campaign.

[120] Yeah, just before six.

[121] Are you guys stopped right now?

[122] Are you literally driving?

[123] We're literally driving.

[124] Okay, good.

[125] And then finally we cross into New Jersey and we get to Newark and it's like, oh, the city, we're here.

[126] And as we arrive to meet Senator Cory Booker, Jenny's, she's telling me the few words she's learned in English.

[127] Very well.

[128] My name is?

[129] Uh -huh.

[130] My name is?

[131] Uh -huh.

[132] So we get there.

[133] We get to a parking lot outside the Hilton.

[134] There he is.

[135] There are a few of his press people.

[136] And we get out of the car, and everyone's taking photos, and the senator is about twice her height.

[137] It's obvious, is to a...

[138] ...

[139] over her and he gives her this big bear hug and starts telling her in Spanish how committed he is to the cause and that this doesn't represent America, that he's going to be there for her even after she sees her kids and she starts crying and he gives her his handkerchief.

[140] I think that the timing has been interesting because somehow Jenny has become a way, a vehicle for elected officials.

[141] to announce their message, whether it's abolish ICE or immigration reform has to happen now, whatever it might be.

[142] Jenny's, you know, she's had to use extra ordinary ways of reconnecting with her family, not through any kind of official process that we've set up.

[143] And every day that goes by, if these children are traumatized more, their children both suffer more.

[144] And this is just not who we are.

[145] We don't do this kind of torture to children.

[146] Thank you so much.

[147] Wow, that is close.

[148] Can you see it?

[149] As we leave New Jersey and we're headed closer to New York, there's this moment where sort of through the haze you start seeing the New York City skyline.

[150] And I was sitting close to her and I said, what do you think?

[151] And she says, it's beautiful.

[152] In this city of New York, for this city of New York, there's my heart complete.

[153] Okay.

[154] Yeah.

[155] She said, And then she says, my whole heart is there.

[156] Imagine they sent my whole heart there.

[157] I asked her had she ever seen the New York skyline in movies or on TV.

[158] Did she have any idea of what New York was like?

[159] And she said, no, she didn't even know about the Statue of Liberty.

[160] Jenny, this is what is what's called Times Square.

[161] This is Times Square.

[162] Look, look.

[163] I was sort of watching her because even to those of us who lived in New York after this day driving from Pittsburgh, the crowds were overwhelming.

[164] It was like sweaty tourists with their shirts off and giant groups of school children crossing the street and honking horns and yellow taxi cabs and, you know, Times Square characters posing with people.

[165] We turn up 6th Avenue.

[166] She just looked at it all, kind of wide -eyed.

[167] She didn't say anything.

[168] There's a big crowd.

[169] And as we turn towards Central Park, we started seeing this gathering of people holding signs and lifting them up, and they somehow knew it was us.

[170] And this cheer went up.

[171] And we drove by them and all the signs said, Jenny, Jenny, Jenny.

[172] There are signs here that say, Biennita to New York, Jenny.

[173] Families belong together.

[174] Welcome Jenny.

[175] She'd been told you do not have to get out of the car.

[176] Squeeze my hand if you want to leave.

[177] Put your hand up, cover your face.

[178] They're coaching her.

[179] and protecting her.

[180] They don't want to just throw her to the wolves.

[181] And we're all looking to her to see what she's going to do.

[182] And instead of saying, let's keep going and waving out the window, she says, I want to get out.

[183] She jumps out, and she's just swarmed by cameras and by journalists with microphones, and they start asking her questions.

[184] Jenny, you've lived in moments very cruel, but you've ever thought you've got to create this human to attract from the frontier to here?

[185] Much thanks.

[186] We're at Central Park, and there are a lot of crying moms and a bunch of children here, too.

[187] There's some tourists that have no idea what's going on.

[188] She's one of the mothers who was separated from her kids at the border, and they brought her here to New York because her kids were sent here to the city.

[189] Oh, okay.

[190] Did you hear that?

[191] It's one of the...

[192] I know, Emma, yeah, yeah, yeah, she got separately.

[193] Thanks.

[194] While she was in detention, she did not know that this had become what it had.

[195] I think she had no idea.

[196] I mean, from what she told me, she...

[197] cleans houses in a small village in Guatemala and takes care of her children.

[198] She's a single mom.

[199] There was nothing really to distinguish her from any of the other people who cross the border.

[200] I think she had no clue that she'd be walking out into this new reality.

[201] I don't think she understands the culture wars.

[202] You know, within a very short time, simply because of the timing.

[203] of when she crossed the border.

[204] She went from being treated by Americans as a criminal to a victim to sort of a symbol.

[205] You know, I'm getting the tweets and people saying that she's a symbol of what all Americans should be striving toward instead of engaging in Facebook fights that they should be getting in there and making a difference.

[206] On the other hand, of course, people say, this will be remembered when we vote.

[207] Liberals have abandoned citizens for undocumented illegal aliens.

[208] I wonder in time how she'll look back.

[209] at this, whether she'll say this had nothing to do with me at all.

[210] You know, she just wants to get back with her kids.

[211] Is everyone in?

[212] So we leave the crowd.

[213] We pile back into the rented suburban.

[214] We're loaded back into the suburban, and Yeni now has a bouquet of flowers and is waving to the reporters as we drive away.

[215] I told her to get a good night's sleep, And we were all going to see each other again at Cayuga in the morning, where her kids were going to be.

[216] And how are you trying here?

[217] Yeah.

[218] And come in, say, breakfast, and where are you in the house?

[219] And where are you in the house?

[220] And how many, you've done with, what family?

[221] One or two?

[222] One.

[223] One one family?

[224] And they have children, too?

[225] Yes.

[226] Yes.

[227] You've seen the movie of Star Wars?

[228] The ultimate that's out of Han Solo?

[229] Isla of the Guardians of the Galaxy?

[230] When do you go?

[231] We'll be right back.

[232] It's about 9 .30 on Tuesday morning, and I am outside Cayuga centers in East Harlem, in Manhattan, with about 50 journalists and more than a dozen cameras from local TV stations.

[233] and we're waiting for Yenny to come out after meeting her children.

[234] It's almost 90 degrees, even though it's still early.

[235] And we are right next to the train tracks.

[236] And at 10 -17, I got a text saying she's coming out soon.

[237] And this message sort of filtered out, and the crowd of journalists starts hovering and gathering and elbowing for the best position, and the doors open, and all the cameras start whirring and flashing.

[238] And Congressman Adriano Espayat is the first to step up to the microphone.

[239] He gives a short speech.

[240] He says it was a very emotional reunion and that she's driven all the way from Arizona.

[241] It's taken four days, and he thanks everyone who made it happen and says he wants to see more of these stories.

[242] story has become a reality.

[243] So Mr. Espyat steps away, and Jenny steps forward, and she's holding a blue and white lollipop.

[244] And she says, thank you to everyone who helped me get here.

[245] Thank you all and thank you to the city of New York.

[246] But then she held up the lollipop and she said, my daughter, gave this to me today.

[247] And, you know, tears are streaming down her face.

[248] It was quick.

[249] And she stepped away.

[250] And then her lawyer, Jose Oracena, steps up and takes her place in front of the mics.

[251] This has been a battle that we've been waiting for about five weeks now.

[252] We've been waiting this battle for about five weeks.

[253] And out of his brown leather briefcase, he produces a bunch of papers and their color printouts of photographs of other women who have been held with Jenny in Arizona.

[254] These are all mothers that Jenny told me to meet with at Arizona.

[255] And he starts going through.

[256] This is another family.

[257] Their kids are here at Cayuga.

[258] The mother is detained in Arizona.

[259] And after he says that, Jenny sort of tugs on his sleeve or makes it known that she wants to take the might.

[260] This is a timid woman.

[261] She speaks no English.

[262] She's from a tiny village in Guatemala.

[263] But I think she sensed that this was her moment to say something on their behalf.

[264] And she says very clearly to the women who are still in the detention center, I want to send the message to you to all the parents who are there.

[265] there, that we're doing all that we can to get you out, that there are people with good hearts on the other side, that we haven't forgotten you, and that you, too, can be back with your children.

[266] Univision.

[267] Anybody else?

[268] She turns away.

[269] She goes back inside, and the press conference continues with the organizers sort of talking about how they made all of this happen.

[270] but Jenny, who's the star of the show, has gone back inside to spend the day with her kids.

[271] So people take their final footage and get the phone numbers they need and pack up their cameras and coil up their cords and everyone goes home.

[272] Jenny?

[273] Hello?

[274] Hello, Jenny.

[275] You know about me?

[276] Hours later, I called Jenny to check in and ask how it had been seeing her kids.

[277] You reuniste with your kids.

[278] And the first thing she said to them was, I promised I would come find you wherever you were, and here I am.

[279] Well, Jenny, I'm going to leave you.

[280] Ah, casso we're talking in these days, but I thank you.

[281] And much saludos.

[282] Jose, thanks for all.

[283] On Thursday, the Trump administration said that nearly 3 ,000 migrant children remained separated from their parents under the president's zero -tolerance policy and that of those, about 100 are under the age of five.

[284] The administration is now racing to meet deadlines imposed by a federal judge, which requires that children under five, be reunited with their parents by Tuesday, and that older children be reunited by July 26th.

[285] Here's what else you need to Notre Day.

[286] Mr. Pruitt, welcome to the People's House.

[287] The list of your failures is long, and your wasteful spending is an embarrassment to government and very offensive to the taxpayers who pay all of our salaries.

[288] Scott Pruitt, the head of the EPA, resigned on Thursday amid more than a dozen investigations into allegations of ethics violations, lavish spending, and misuse of his government staff.

[289] It's tempting to ask why you spent nearly $68 ,000 on hotels and travel from August through February just in five months and $50 ,000 on modifications to your office, including a privacy booth that cost over $43 ,000.

[290] I think it's important, Congressman, to know where this originated.

[291] I did have a phone call that came in of a sensitive nature and I did not have access to secure communications.

[292] I gave direction to my staff to address that.

[293] And out of that came a $43 ,000 expenditure that I did not approve.

[294] That is something that should not have earned a future.

[295] You're not taking responsibility for the $43 ,000 that was...

[296] President Trump has repeatedly praised Pruitt for pursuing his goal of rolling back environmental regulations.

[297] But that confidence was steadily undermined by claims that Pruitt installed a $43 ,000 soundproof phone booth in his office.

[298] insisted on first -class airline travel, asked aides to find a job for his wife, and fired staff who questioned his behavior.

[299] In a tweet on Thursday announcing the resignation, the president wrote, quote, within the agency, Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this.

[300] Pruitt will be replaced temporarily by Andrew Wheeler, a former lobbyist for the coal industry.

[301] And President Trump has chosen a former executive at Fox News, Bill Shine, as his head of White House communications, despite the executive's alleged role in a scandal at the network.

[302] Shine, who was named as an assistant to the president, was fired by Fox for allegedly enabling sexual harassment by the network's former chairman, Roger Ailes, a claim that shine denies.

[303] The Daily is produced by Field Alcom, Lindsay Garrison, Rachel Quester, Annie Brown, Andy Mills, Ike's Conneraja, Claire Tennisketter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, and Jessica Chung, with editing help from Larissa Anderson.

[304] Lisa Tobin is our executive producer.

[305] Samantha Henning is our editorial director.

[306] Our technical manager is Brad Fisher.

[307] Our engineer is Chris Wood.

[308] and our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsberg of Wonderly.

[309] Special thanks to Sam Dolmich, Michaela Bouchard, Jake Gorski, Lehman Gistu, and Stella Tan.

[310] That's it for the Daily.

[311] I'm Michael Barbaro.

[312] See you on Monday.