A 2-year-old Venezuelan girl who had been held in U.S. custody since late 2024 and remained in the U.S. after her parents were deported separately under controversial circumstances has been returned to Venezuela.

Maikelys Antonella Espinoza arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday aboard a repatriation flight carrying more than 225 migrants. Her return marks the latest chapter in a growing political standoff between the Trump administration and the regime of Nicolás Maduro, who has accused the United States of “kidnapping” the child and committing an “egregious abuse of human rights.”

The girl’s mother, Yorely Escarleth Bernal Inciarte, had been deported from the United States two weeks earlier after spending nearly 10 months in immigration detention. Her partner and Maikelys’ father, Maiker Es

See Full Page