NASHVILLE—Another immigration outrage in Nashville, where young mother Misslenys Hernandez Zabala has disappeared. Hernandez was arrested, detained, and taken into Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody on Friday, March 20, despite having a valid work permit. She is the mother of a 10-month-old infant, Maximillano, whom she breastfeeds.
Hernandez was arrested while on her way to work after dropping Maximillano off with his nanny. As of this report, ICE has given no reason why she was taken into custody. Apparently, she had been surveilled prior to the arrest, as ICE officers asked as to the whereabouts of the baby. Hernandez also has a 12-year-old daughter and cares for a 9-year old niece.
The partner of Hernandez, the baby’s father who requested not to be identified fearing retaliation, provided documents to the media proving Hernandez had a Social Security number and a valid work permit. He said they had followed all the requirements of the legal process while waiting for their next court date, scheduled for 2028.
Hernandez and her partner, both originally from Venezuela, came to the United States in 2021 seeking asylum.
Music City Migra Watch, an immigrant advocacy organization, had some of its staff escort the baby, Maximillano, to Nashville’s Department of Homeland Security, where it was believed Hernandez was being held, in an effort to secure her release on the grounds she is a breastfeeding mother. ICE officers refused their request.
The Trump administration no longer adheres to DHS policies of limiting the arrest and detention of immigrant women who are pregnant, postpartum, or nursing. According to the latest investigative research, ICE has deported hundreds of women, 363 to be exact, in those classifications in just over the last 13 months.
As for Hernandez, as of this writing, she is still languishing somewhere in detention. Only ICE knows where.
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