Deported mother allowed to return to U.S. to bury her 3yo old – ICE says she left him with a ‘violent murderer,’ she claims she had no choice

The Department of Homeland Security has allowed Wendy Hernandez Reyes to return to the United States under a temporary humanitarian stay. This rare allowance from the agency will allow her to finally lay her 3-year-old son, Orlin, to rest.

Florida-born Orlins’ story follows a tragic sequence of events that began when Hernandez was deported to Honduras. She had to leave her son behind in the care of a man who now faces murder charges.

The Washington Post reported that this case has sparked significant scrutiny regarding how immigration authorities manage the separation of families during enforcement actions. Even with the humanitarian stay, as soon as Hernandez arrived at an international terminal in Atlanta late Monday, she was fitted with a GPS ankle monitor by immigration officers. Reportedly, the officer apologized to her before releasing her to attend the funeral services for her son.

The situation surrounding the child’s death remains deeply contentious. Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement director Todd M. Lyons claimed in March that Hernandez had “abandoned” her son to a “violent murderer.” However, Hernandez maintains that she repeatedly begged ICE to allow her to be deported alongside her child. Instead, the boy was placed in the custody of Samuel Maldonado, the estranged partner of Hernandez’s sister. 

That decision was allegedly the start of a spiral of abuse

Police allege that Maldonado, a former member of the Honduran military, inflicted horrific abuse on the child, including burning him with a lighter, whipping him with a wire, and causing multiple broken bones and fatal head trauma. Maldonado has pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

The timeline of these events has led to intense questioning from lawmakers. Representatives Ro Khanna and Delia C. Ramirez have sent a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, formally requesting a full accounting of how ICE handled the case. 

They specifically seek to understand why the agency claimed Hernandez abandoned her son and whether any welfare checks were performed on the child after her deportation on January 26. “A three-year-old American is dead, and his mother was deported as she begged to keep him at her side,” Khanna wrote. “This family, and the public, deserve to know how this happened and who is accountable.”

In response to the story, Representative Pramila Jayapal has indicated plans to introduce legislation dubbed “Orlin’s law.” This law would mandate that ICE stop separating parents from their children.

During the memorial service in Atlanta, Hernandez visited with her son. Orlin was dressed in a tan vest and bow tie in a casket labeled “Principito.” The Washington Post reported that she whispered to him while stroking his face, “I never wanted to leave you. I wanted to bring you with me. My son.”

The initial plan was to transport Orlin’s remains to Honduras. However, legal advocates and family members successfully petitioned for Hernandez’s return to the U.S. so she could bury him in Pensacola, where he was born. 

Escambia County Sheriff Chip W. Simmons, who previously assisted with immigration enforcement, endorsed a U-visa application for Hernandez to help her participate in the ongoing criminal investigation. “I felt like it was the right thing to do considering the loss of her child,” Simmons said in a statement.

Her lawyer, Shalyn Fluharty, expressed gratitude for the government’s decision to allow her return, with one criticism. “This entire situation never had to happen to begin with.” Following recent extensions from DHS, Hernandez is currently permitted to remain in the country until early December.

Here, whether intentional or not, Orlin was separated from his mother and left behind. However, even cases where the children are or will be deported with the parents, like a 6-year-old deaf child, or 2-month-old Juan Nicolás, who got sick in detention, have stirred controversy and put a question mark on how ICE is choosing to handle the deportations.