Carlos and Antonia were living in Honduras with their young son, Alejandro. After Carlos was attacked and repeatedly threatened by gang members who wanted to extort him, the family fled in 2021 and made the difficult journey through Guatemala and Mexico.
“We were in constant fear, every time we had to cross the border and travel with a young child. We were terrified. As a mother, I was very anxious, thinking, are they going to take my child away, is someone going to try to steal him from me?” - Antonia
In 2022, they entered the United States after receiving an appointment to make an asylum claim and eventually established themselves in Maryland while awaiting their hearing. At first, their hearing date kept getting delayed, but in March 2025, they received a notice saying that their file had been closed and they would be deported. They never had the opportunity to explain why they fled Honduras and were seeking safety.
A lawyer told them that if they filed an appeal and then showed up for an appointment, they would be detained and deported.
“We had no way to defend ourselves. We would be deported anyway. We fled Honduras because our lives were at risk, and that was where they would send us back to.” -Carlos
Carlos has two brothers and a sister in Canada, and so they made the decision to come here. They arrived at the border in April 2025, coincidentally on Refugee Rights Day.
“We were fearful, not knowing what we would face when we approached the border. But when we saw the Canadian flag there at the bridge, we felt a certain sense of relief.” -Carlos
But instead of finding relief, they faced a new system of cruelty. Because Carlos has family members in Canada, border officers told him that he and Alejandro could be let into the country, but Antonia would have to go back to the United States. Carlos explained that their asylum claims in the US had been cancelled and that Antonia would be detained and deported back to Honduras if she was forced to go to the United States. The officers did not listen, and told him that he had to inform Antonia that she would not be allowed in.
“I said, ‘What am I supposed to tell my son about why they’re not going to let his mother come in with us.’ And the border officer just said, ‘That’s your problem, you’ve got 20 minutes to make a decision.’” – Carlos
“I just remember that I was crying a lot and said there was no way I could be separated from my son. I was completely in shock. And then my son started crying, too.” - Antonia
Separating was not an option for Carlos and Antonia, so Canada deported the entire family to the United States. They were detained by the US in a small room without windows, where they were fed tiny rations and not given the opportunity to shower. After five days, they were sent to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center, a family detention centre, where Antonia and Alejandro were separated from Carlos.
“Spending 15 days locked up in that detention centre was witnessing human dignity vanish behind bars. The hardest part wasn't the cold or the food; it was looking into our 6-year-old son's eyes and having no answers. A child shouldn't learn what a lock is before learning what freedom is. Every night in that centre, we silently begged his forgiveness for not being able to give him the refuge we had promised.” - Antonia
After two weeks, officers told them that they were going to be deported to Honduras.
The family has been in hiding ever since.
"Imagine not processing the deportation, the mistreatment we received, the fear of returning to a country we fled to protect our lives, especially that of our son Alejandro, returning home and having no support network, not even family, [...], without money, with a brave 6-year-old boy unable to understand so many things about why we were sad, him missing his space, his life, which is the only thing he remembered."
They’re also challenging the Safe Third Country Agreement, which allowed Canada to send them back to the United States.
“We wish we could show our faces and shout to the world and let everyone know that this is what happened to us. It is just not safe for us. But we are doing what we can to fight this. The hardest thing has been trying to explain this all to our son. From one day to the next, everything was turned upside down for him: his world, his community, his space. It’s not easy for a child to compartmentalize. It’s not easy for an adult either.” - Carlos