A 6-year-old Charlotte first grader and her mother were deported to Venezuela after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained them at a routine check-in, according to advocates and the child’s father.
Zoeh, a first grader at Sugar Creek Charter School, and her mother, Ydienays Dominguez, had been seeking asylum in the U.S. Advocates with Siembra NC say they logged on for a virtual immigration hearing on July 9, but the judge did not appear.
The two received a removal order the next day. The family believed an appeal would be filed, but Siembra says it was never submitted. Zoeh and Dominguez continued attending routine ICE check-ins at a Charlotte office.
But on Monday, ICE agents detained the mother and daughter at a check-in. Zoeh’s father, Anderson, said he had not spoken to either of them and had since learned they had been deported immediately to Venezuela.
“I haven’t heard from them. They haven’t spoken to me. I haven’t heard their voices,” Anderson said in Spanish. “That’s been hard. Not knowing about my daughter or my wife.”
State Rep. Julia Greenfield, a Democrat, said the family should have had an opportunity to fight their case before an immigration judge.
“We’re just asking for due process, which this family did not receive,” Greenfield said.
ICE did not respond to WFAE’s request for comment.
