Guatemalan Mom Reunites With Kids In Harlem After ICE Separation

EAST HARLEM, NY — A Guatemalan mother travelled thousands of miles to New York City so that she could hold her kids for the first time in more than a month.

Yeni Gonzalez was reunited with her 6-year-old and 11-year-old sons and 9-year-old daughter in East Harlem Tuesday after ICE Agents in Arizona took them away from her on May 19, officials announced.

Gonzalez’s arrival drew a crowd of elected officials, advocates and New Yorkers who came to the Cayuga Center at 1616 Park Ave., where her children are being held.

She insisted on hugging every kid who came to greet her, one New Yorker tweeted.

Yeni has arrived in the Big Apple, and she insisted on hugging every child who came to greet her. #reuniteyeni #ReuniteFamiliesNow pic.twitter.com/wTho7ZYiDa
— Leslie Kendall Dye (@LKendallDye) July 3, 2018

When Gonzalez and her family were detained at the United States and Mexico border, officials sent her to a facility in Eloy, Arizona, and her kids more than 2,000 miles away, according to a GoFundMe campaign that raised money to help reunite the family.

The campaign raised more than $37,000 to pay Gonzalez’ $7,500 detention bond and to send her on a four day trip to East Harlem where she reunited with her family.

Gonzalez was separated from her kids as part of a President Donald Trump's “zero tolerance”policy that has taken more than 2,300 children from their parents.

The family was reunited the same day Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his administration would provide legal services to the approximately 300 immigrant children the federal government has sent to New York City.

Gonzalez was not able to take the kids home with her Tuesday because of fingerprinting problems that could take months to resolve, so she will stay in Queens until their release, the Daily News reported.

“When they saw me they hugged me and they cried, Gonzalez said, through a translator, outside the Cayuga Centers. “They told me they want me to take them home soon.”

At update was posted to Gonzalez' GoFundMe page after her visit. Organizers said more than anything, Gonzalez can't wait to brush her little girl’s hair.

Photo courtesy of Spencer Platt/Getty Images News