A Venezuelan family is calling for a 2-year-old to be returned to her mother after the U.S. authorities deported the mother to Venezuela on Friday without the child. The girl’s father was sent to a prison in El Salvador in March. The toddler, Maikelys Antonella Espinoza Bernal, remains in foster care in the United States, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Officials said in a statement that the child was removed from her parents and from the manifest of her mother’s deportation plane for her own “safety and welfare.” The Trump administration claims the girl’s parents are members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, but it has not offered evidence to back this up. The girl, known to many in her family as Antonella, is one of several children who have been swept up in President Trump’s immigration crackdown in recent days. At least three children who are U.S. citizens were sent to Honduras this month with their mothers, decisions protested by the families’ lawyers. Other breaking news : HAVANA, April 29 (Reuters) - U.S. immigration officials' deportation of a woman to Cuba last week, separating her from her 1-year-old daughter, has drawn fresh attention to what critics say is the Trump administration's willingness to split up families as part of its migration crackdown. Heidy Sanchez, interviewed by Reuters on Monday, said she was told she would be deported and separated from her still-breastfeeding daughter, a U.S. citizen. Breaking News Missing Kids After ICE Raids Spark National Outrage #humanrights #democracy #news #immigration