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A Guatemalan family was separated by agents of the Border Patrol (USBP) in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, leaving the eldest daughter, who just turned 18, in charge of her four siblings.
The video, which shows the children saying goodbye to their parents through tears and hugs, has caused outrage among social media users.
Here we tell you what we know about the case and what the eldest daughter has said about it.
How the events occurred
According to information from N+ Univision, the Domingo family was leaving mass and heading to buy shoes for one of their children for the start of the new school year when they were intercepted by Border Patrol (USBP) agents.
Behind the wheel was Wendy Domingo, the eldest daughter of the family, who is a US citizen.
The family recorded the moment of the arrest and shared it on social media.
In the video, Abraham Domingo's children can be seen crying at the helplessness of seeing their parents being arrested.
At one point, Wendy Domingo asks the agents the reason they stopped her and if she had committed an infraction. The agents acknowledge that she had not committed any infraction, but that they had scanned the car's license plates and found they were linked to her father, who does not have US citizenship.
The Guatemalan-Maya Center organization, which made the Domingo family case public, maintains that they were stopped after agents engaged in racial profiling.
The video also shows the agents asking Wendy's parents if they agree with her being left in charge of her siblings or if they should take them all. The parents, Abraham Domingo and María Levia, respond that they prefer them to stay with their eldest daughter.
Wendy's siblings are 16, 14, 11, and 3 years old.
“Why did we go out, Daddy? Why didn't you just send me alone?” Wendy says as she says goodbye to her father through tears in the video.
What has Wendy Domingo said after the arrest of her parents?
In an interview with Noticias Telemundo, Wendy Domingo said that everyone tells her she has to be strong, but that it is difficult without having either of her parents with her. She also revealed that she never thought they would arrest her father while she was driving.
“Everyone says ‘you have to be strong,’ but how are we going to be strong if both of them are gone from me," said the young woman. "I never imagined they would arrest him while I was with him."
Wendy expressed that they told her she had to act like an adult and that she is now in charge of the bills and the care of her siblings. She also revealed that she now has two jobs.
“They told me to my face that I'm already 18, that I'm already an adult, so I have to act like an adult," she explained. "Now I have to be responsible for the bills, the house, the two cars, the children, school, all of that. And also having two jobs that I got now."
According to Noticias Telemundo, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asserts that Abraham Domingo faces a domestic violence charge, while his wife, María Levia, has a deportation order.
Therefore, the case of this family is complicated.
[Publicidad]