A mother and father were deported under Trump's leadership. But what happened to their daughter?

The Venezuelan family called for no children after U.S. authorities deported their mother to Venezuela on Friday.

The girl's father was taken to a prison in El Salvador in March.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, young children, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, are still in foster care in the United States. Officials said in a statement that the child was evacuated from her parents and was expelled from her own “safety and welfare” from her mother's expulsion plane.

The Trump administration claims that the girl’s parents are members of Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, but has not provided evidence to support this.

The girl, known among her family as Antonella, is one of several children who have been suppressed by President Trump’s immigration in recent days. At least three children, who are U.S. citizens, were taken to Honduras with their mothers, to protest by family lawyers this month.

As far as the Venezuelan toddlers are concerned, the girl’s mother, 20-year-old Yorely Bernal, entered the United States with her partner Maiker Espinoza and their children in May 2024, while President Joseph R. Biden Jr. is still in office.

According to relatives of the couple, authorities told them that their tattoos looked suspicious, detained them and sent the girl to foster care.

In Mr. Trump’s first administration, family separations at the border caused anger and legal challenges and ultimately stopped being used as a blanket policy. But during the Biden administration, separation continued with limited circumstances when officials believed it was a threat to children.

It is unclear why officials separated family members last year. Record searches show that parents have no criminal record in Venezuela or Peru, where they have lived for several years, or outside immigration crimes in the United States. In the United States, the couple lives only in immigration detention.

According to records, Espinoza, 25, was arrested in Peru for allegations of domestic violence in 2022, but the case has been closed and he has never faced trial.

U.S. officials took Mr. Espinosa to El Salvador on March 30, taking one of five planes, carrying Venezuelans to the highest security prison. The Trump administration claims that all Venezuelans on these flights are members of Tren de Aragua, but little has been proven.

In late April, Ms. Bernal called her mother, Raida Inciarte, Ms. Inciarte said in an interview that she was going to be told she would be deported back to Venezuela. Ms. Inciarte said U.S. officials told Ms. Bernal that Antonella would go with her.

During the video call, Ms. Bernal presented a document from her mother to an immigration authority named Antonella, who claimed that the child indicated that the child would leave the United States with her.

But when Ms. Bernal boarded the deportation on April 25 to fly to Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, her child was not there.

Ms. Inciarte, who called on the U.S. government to release the child at her home in Maracaibo, Venezuela, said her parents lived in four foster care families when they were detained by immigration in the past year. (Ms. Inciarte stays in touch with case workers and foster parents, she said.)

She said her daughter returned to Maracaibo on Sunday and cried in her bedroom Monday morning.

“That little girl has a family that suffers from a year of pain every day,” she said of the child.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, young children are under the supervision of the Refugee Resettlement Office, referring to a part of the Department of Health and Human Services. Office officials forwarded all issues to the Department of Homeland Security

The Trump administration has not said when or whether it will be reunited with its family.

In its statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Mr. Espinosa was a “lieutenant” of Tren de Aragua who oversees criminal operations including the “home of torture” while Ms. Bernal directed “young women recruiting drug smuggling and prostitution.”

“Trump President and Secretary Norm is responsible for serious protection of the child,” the statement said. “We will not allow this child to be abused and continue to be subject to criminal activities that endanger her safety.”

“My brother is not a criminal. He left Venezuela like many young people, looking for opportunities to succeed,” said María Alejandra Fernández, 31, the sister of Espinoza.

The department did not respond to a request for more details about the gang contact allegations.

Ms. Inciarte said the first foster family for young children was in the El Paso area. But Antonella has been placed in her new home in recent days, Ms. Inciarte said her foster mother told her she is not sure where the house is now.

The new foster mother did not respond to the New York Times message.

The Trump administration said Tren de Aragua “invaded” the United States, which the president used to prove the swift deportation of hundreds of Venezuelans and to fulfill campaign commitments to take a tough stance against undocumented immigrants.

Their family said Ms. Bernal and Mr. Espinoza escaped the economic and political crisis at their home in Venezuela and met while living in Peru. She works at a fast food stall. His sister, Ms. Fernandez, said he worked as a bricklayer for the tiling factory until he started his business with a barber.

Antonella was born in Lima on February 8, 2023, based on her birth certificate, which lists the couple as her parents. When the girl was 1 year old, Ms. Bernal and Mr. Espinosa decided to follow the increasing number of immigrants to the United States.

Ms. Inciarte said the salary in Peru was low and the situation in Venezuela did not improve.

“They are excited and set out to pursue the American dream,” she said.

The couple left Peru and dragged with their children – across the jungle of Ecuador, Colombia, Darien, which connects South America with Panama and Central America. In Mexico, they were briefly kidnapped by what Espinoza's sister calls “coyotes” or what immigrant traffickers call “short”.

The family said that in May last year, the two moved across the U.S. border.

Ms. Bernal told her mother in custody that authorities believed her tattoos – she had a lot – made her a “gang member”.

But the families said the charges became more specific until Trump took office: The administration believed they were members of Tren de Aragua.

Ms. Bernal's tattoo includes the birth year her parents carved around their necks, as well as lightning, small fire and snakes. According to his statement to authorities, Mr. Espinosa's tattoos include cartoon characters Eussimite Sam and the Martian, as well as a cross, crown and compass with a plane.

Documents from internal governments show that U.S. authorities have cited tattoos to label people as members of Tren de Aragua, although there is little evidence that the gang uses tattoos as a sign of membership.

During a conversation with foster parents last year, Ms. Inciarte Antonella is a toddler “sweet” and “independence,” parents say. But they also pointed out that when the girl cried while moving in the family, she seemed confused about who she belonged to.

She said it bothered her grandmother and she was worried about “psychological harm.”

“Today she woke up with one mother, tomorrow she had another,” she said.

Mitra Taj From Lima, Peru and Hamed Aleaziz Contributed reports from Washington. Sheelagh McNeill Contributed to the research.