Kristina Cooke and Mica Rosenberg by Ted Hesson

LOS ANGELES (Reuters – Maria Hernandez was in Honduras for many hours, imagining a secure life in Los Angeles with her young daughters.

    Instead, she and the children are living in a windowless homeless shelter a two-hour bus ride from the girls’ schools, after a government program brought her to the United States earlier this year.

    U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, came into office in January 2021 pledging to help families like Hernandez’s that were broken up at the U.S.-Mexico border by former President Donald Trump’s Republican administration. Biden established a task force in order to unify those still separated.

Of the 200 families the task force has so far reunited, including Hernandez and her daughters, around three-quarters have struggled with housing insecurity, according to previously unreported data collected by two groups that aid them, Together & Free and Seneca Family of Agencies.

Reuters couldn’t independently verify these data.

The spokesperson for U.S. Department for Homeland Security (DHS), called it a “moral imperative”, to reunite the family members. He said that while the government is working with private sector for housing and other resources when necessary, funding was a major challenge.

Biden asked for $20 million to fund the task force as part of his fiscal year 2020 budget proposal. The next fiscal year begins Oct. 1. Congress has yet to pass the next-year’s spending bill. DHS didn’t respond to questions about data from aid groups that showed how many families are experiencing housing difficulties.

Government support is not available to other recently arrived migrants in need of housing. But activists claim that government must help families who have suffered lasting trauma due to U.S. policies.

After Hernandez asked for asylum at the border, her children were taken away by officers from immigration. This was in a bid to discourage migration.

Nicole was only 3 years old when she became the youngest of all three girls. Michelle was eight. Their older brother was sent them to Los Angeles’ government-run center for migrant kids.

Hernandez was expelled to Honduras. 

DHS leads the taskforce. According to the DHS, close to 4000 children were removed from their families at the border in the Trump years. International outrage was sparked by the Trump-era policy. Many families were eventually reunited prior to Biden’s election. The government claims it’s working to bring together the families of some 1,000 kids who are currently separated from their parents.

On arriving in the United States, many of the parents reunited by the Biden taskforce start work immediately to make ends meet, with no time to get reacquainted with their children, or to heal trauma, said Kate Wheatcroft, executive director of Together & Free.     Except for some services in mental health that they may be eligible for, they cease receiving government aid, she explained.

Temporary parole is granted to the families for three years in the United States, which can be renewed at any time. They are also allowed to work.

PAIN AND TRUMA

Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of DHS, met families reunited last August. He apologized for their separations and acknowledged their continuing trauma.

A spokesperson for the agency stated that they were trying to take “great care” and show sensitivity in order to not traumatize families.

According to Lee Gelernt, an ACLU lawyer, the U.S. Department of Justice is currently negotiating with American Civil Liberties Union in a lengthy-running suit. The aim of this lawsuit was to ensure stable immigration status as well as access to emergency food. According to Gelernt, discussions were progressing in good faith. 

   Last year, however, administration lawyers broke off settlement talks to resolve federal tort claims brought by hundreds of families seeking compensation from the government.

The Wall Street Journal published an October 2021 report that estimated payouts would reach $450,000 per individual. According to Reuters sources, the amount being discussed at that time was similar to the number. A person who is familiar with the subject told Reuters that they were not able to disclose details of the negotiation.

The DOJ, who was looking at a smaller settlement for the matter, pulled out of all discussions following the publication of the figure. A U.S. official said that the White House made the decision at its highest level. Another person who was familiar with the matter confirmed this. 

DHS asked DOJ questions regarding the settlement negotiations. DOJ declined comment.

EVICTED

Hernandez came from Honduras to the United States and moved in with Maynor, her son, and two of his sisters.

Hernandez said that her landlord was not happy about the large number of tenants living in the one-bedroom apartment. She asked for them to move. Hernandez also spoke with Al Otro Lado, Hernandez’s attorney.

    Reuters has been following the family since 2020 and is referring to the girls by their middle names to protect their privacy.

    Seneca Family of Agencies found Hernandez an Airbnb for a month to give her time to find a new apartment. Al Otro Lado case manager found another alternative when Hernandez was not successful.

    In March, Hernandez and her daughters moved into the homeless shelter, an industrial building next to a freeway.

Hernandez, who is a good friend, cooks food for the shelter’s children a few times a week.

    On a Thursday morning in April, Reuters accompanied Hernandez and the girls as they left the shelter in the dark at 6 a.m. and walked to the nearby bus stop. The girls changed buses twice and arrived at the intersection of Nicole’s elementary school and Michelle’s middle school around 8:15 a.m.

Nicole (7 years old) and Michelle (almost a teenager), played on Hernandez’s cellphone to pass time. She bought the girls tamales before she saw them off. 

    The next day, Maynor scored a short-term job renovating a Spanish-style bungalow in North Hollywood with a backyard pool. Reuters was there to meet him. Hernandez had been brought along by him, and they got to work on the bedrooms and floors while Hernandez worked in the living area, sweating profusely in 100-degree heat. 

It’s not easy for her to work hard. She was a banana harvester in Honduras at a mountain plantation.

Hernandez stated that Maynor drove around Los Angeles with oranges during school hours to help make ends meet.

After a time in which Maynor slept on the streets, guarding the oranges, the shelter made room for him and his truck.

Hernandez searches for apartments when she isn’t working.

She stated that not all places within her price range can be rented for one, or two, but landlords will balk at the fact that there are four.

    Her stay at the homeless shelter is limited to 90 days. She is becoming more worried about her situation as she waits for advocacy groups to assist.

Her first question when going to the laundromat is “Do people know about rentals?” Hernandez was recently contacted by a Guatemalan lady who gave her the phone number. Hernandez was informed that the building was not available when Hernandez phoned.

    “It stresses me out,” said Hernandez. My head hurts.”