ICE Took Her Baby. A Year Later, This Cuban Mother’s Still Fighting to Get Her Back
September 30, 2026
Last year, ICE detained Heidy Sánchez at an scheduled immigration appointment and deported her to Cuba within days, separating her from her husband and two-year-old daughter in Tampa.
Belly of the Beast spoke with her in Havana after her deportation. She had an immigration lawyer, who helped her apply at the U.S. embassy for a visa to reunite with her family in the United States.
More than a year has passed, and her requests to return to the United States have gone unanswered.
In July, four Democratic members of Congress met with Heidy as she recounted the moment ICE took her daughter from her arms.
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“I went to my immigration appointment, and they took my daughter from my arms and told me I was being deported to Cuba. They kept my daughter there and detained me. They put me in a cell, handcuffed. It was horrible,” said Heidy Sánchez, who immigrated to the United States in 2019 and built a life in Tampa with her husband and daughter.
“Just imagine. I started crying and told him, ‘Please don’t take her away. Understand me. It took many years and long treatments for me to have my baby. Don’t take her away from me.’” Sánchez recalled.
“Our request is simple: that they allow our family to be reunited, so the three of us can be together again,” Sánchez said.
In July, Sánchez met in Havana with four members of Congress.
“Do you want to show us the pictures?” asked Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-NM).
“Yes,” Sánchez replied.
“It must be hard to look at these pictures, because she was so happy,” Leger Fernández said.
“I was pregnant,” Sánchez recalled.
“It’s been a year now, and time just keeps passing,” Sánchez added.
“I’m so sorry. It’s really cruel—the idea that they’re taking mothers and their children and separating them,” Leger Fernández said.
“I can’t have children. My daughter was conceived through IVF. I spent some 20 years trying to have a child, and I couldn’t. This separation is not easy for me,” Sánchez explained.
“My husband also tells me, ‘Heidy, you have to be strong.’ But how can I be? She’s my little girl,” Sánchez said.
“No one can feel it the way I do,” she added.
“And how is your daughter’s health?” Leger Fernández asked.
“She’s already traumatized by the fear of being abandoned. She’s hurting too. It’s not easy,” Sánchez responded.
“Can your daughter come visit you?” asked Delia Ramírez (D-IL).
“She has. But she leaves feeling worse. She doesn’t want to go,” Sánchez said.
“A lot of journalists have interviewed me and brought my voice to the world, but they haven’t been able to do anything more,” Sánchez said.
“How is this affecting the community you left behind in Tampa?” Leger Fernández asked.
“Thanks to Kathy Castro, the congresswoman from Tampa. She was the one who helped my husband and me,” Sánchez said.
“My husband has held vigils. He’s organized protests. They’ve done so much. They’ve done so much,” she added.
“In fact, I applied for a humanitarian visa, but I never got a response,” Sánchez said.
“I went to the U.S. embassy for an interview, and they told me they needed more evidence of my marriage. They told me this wasn’t enough. The woman from the embassy said, ‘You know there’s a travel ban right now? We need more evidence of your marriage.’ And we can’t move forward with the interview,” Sánchez recounted.
“I know it’s hard to hold on to hope, but don’t let them rob you of your hope,” Ramírez told her.
“I want you to know that we’re not giving up. We’re going to keep fighting because this is unfair,” Ramírez added.
“Help me get back to my little girl, please,” Sánchez pleaded.
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