Immigrant mother detained during zero tolerance to be reunited with her son

On Thursday, Luz will be reunited with her son in New York after thinking she would never see him again.

Five months ago, the mother from Central America was separated from her 15-year-old son at the Texas-Mexico border while the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy was in effect. 

Her attorney, Ruby Powers with Powers Law Group, says Luz was among the last of the remaining parents affected still detained.

Luz says she fled with her son because he had been assaulted several times by MS-13 gang members trying to recruit him. They planned to travel to New York to live with her sister and seek asylum. 

While they made their 2-week journey to the U.S., Luz says her son would thank her for getting him away from the gang members and told her she was the best mother in the world. They never imagined they were be separated. 

She says while she was detained at the Port Isabel Detention Center, she didn’t know where he was and rarely got to speak with him. She feared the boy would think she abandoned him.

"I learned about her case because of a medical condition and she was in a lot of pain needing surgery," said Powers. 

Powers worked with the non-profit Raíces to get Luz another credible fear interview and out on bond.

On Tuesday, Luz was released from the Pearsall Detention Center about an hour south of San Antonio.

Luz says she knows there are thousand mothers and children from Central American on the way to the U.S. in a caravan.

She warns them it’s not easy here because right now they have their children but they don’t know what awaits them.