Alexandra Alvarez anxiously waited on the second floor of LaGuardia Airport on Dec. 5, holding her baby girl Mia — just minutes away from midnight when the tot would turn one. She peered past the baggage claim conveyor belt and the hustle and bustle of the airport, fixing her attention to an escalator.

Alvarez longed for the mere glimpse of her husband, Manuel Mejia Hernandez. He had been separated from his beloved family on Oct. 22 when ICE agents detained him inside 26 Federal Plaza before going on an odyssey that would take him to an Arizona detention center. Hernandez has no outstanding criminal record.

After a long legal battle and weeks of despair, Hernandez finally descended the escalator that Friday night. He was still wearing the same clothes he had on the day he was detained. A

See Full Page