When the Trump administration sent her son to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, Mireya Sandia — whose breast cancer had recently spread to her brain — wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. On the day the pair were reunited, her son Wilmer fell to his knees as if he could barely carry the joy of the moment, photographer Adriana Loureiro Fernández writes for ProPublica.
Over the past four months, Adriana documented the lives of the Sandias and four other Venezuelan families whose sons were deported from the U.S. in mid-March and imprisoned at CECOT, including their long-awaited homecomings after a prisoner swap.
Jeez. I don't live in the US anymore. Visited about 2 months ago.
A couple months before, I was literally working out and training like someone was going to grab me at any time when I got back stateside. Fuck man, I was even listening to Kenji by Fort Minor to get my adrenaline up. I carried my passport everywhere I went.
Nothing eventually came of it. Turns out the area I stayed in was pretty safe. Saw no action. But damn if I wasn't on high alert and stressed out the entire time I was there.
They can build a 3000 person fuckin internment camp in 8 days. Yet our homeless have to suffer. Good luck to anyone affected by this atrocious activity. Take care of yourself and your loved ones.
![image showing [OC] A man sees his mother for the first time since being released from CECOT prison in El Salvador](f4e48422-da14-5655-af43-c69e79b4ea3c.jpg)
propublica_ on August 19th, 2025 at 17:43 UTC »
When the Trump administration sent her son to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, Mireya Sandia — whose breast cancer had recently spread to her brain — wasn’t sure if she would ever see him again. On the day the pair were reunited, her son Wilmer fell to his knees as if he could barely carry the joy of the moment, photographer Adriana Loureiro Fernández writes for ProPublica.
Over the past four months, Adriana documented the lives of the Sandias and four other Venezuelan families whose sons were deported from the U.S. in mid-March and imprisoned at CECOT, including their long-awaited homecomings after a prisoner swap.
See her full photo essay here: https://www.propublica.org/article/cecot-released-family-reunions-photos
prissouille on August 19th, 2025 at 18:06 UTC »
Man you can feel the years in that hug
lysergic_818 on August 19th, 2025 at 20:22 UTC »
Jeez. I don't live in the US anymore. Visited about 2 months ago.
A couple months before, I was literally working out and training like someone was going to grab me at any time when I got back stateside. Fuck man, I was even listening to Kenji by Fort Minor to get my adrenaline up. I carried my passport everywhere I went.
Nothing eventually came of it. Turns out the area I stayed in was pretty safe. Saw no action. But damn if I wasn't on high alert and stressed out the entire time I was there.
They can build a 3000 person fuckin internment camp in 8 days. Yet our homeless have to suffer. Good luck to anyone affected by this atrocious activity. Take care of yourself and your loved ones.