A 12-year-old girl who crossed into the country from the southern border as an unaccompanied minor was reunited with her family in the Chicago area Thursday.
Xally Quetzal Morales Guzman was overwhelmed with emotions, crying and hugging her family for the first time since being separated.
“Happy because I’m with my aunt and my sisters,” she told NBC Chicago in Spanish.
Her family from Mexico now lives in Waukegan, and said they have been praying for her safe journey to the U.S. and received help from United Giving Hope.
Her sister expressed her gratitude to the organization and the pastor who guided them through the legal process.
“A lot of happiness and tranquility at the same time, because she is with us and she is okay,” her sister Xóchitl Morales said.
The young girl crossed into the country with help from a pastor, who is the president of the nonprofit organization. The family told our sister station Telemundo Chicago in an interview last week she provided documentations to border patrol agents, letting them know Xally’s aunt would be her sponsor, but later ran into issues.
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“I still don’t believe it. The truth is that we didn't have any communication with her, only my aunt, after the case was passed on to me,” her older sister Abigail Guzmán said.
According to the family, the Office of Refugee Resettlement had issues with her mother’s birth certificate and couldn’t find it in Mexico’s database. The federal agency is in charge of overseeing the cases of unaccomapnied minors.
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The family told Telemundo Chicago records were found for Xally and her aunt, and believe it was best for her sister to be her sponsor instead.
“We shouldn’t have to wait for a social worker to go back to talk to ORR in order to get the information and then the potential sponsor to get everything through WhatsApp,” pastor and president of United Giving Hope Julie Contreras said.
Contreras said the system is broken and that there is a lack of communication between agencies with no documented paper trail.
“There’s a breakdown somewhere and the lack of appropriate protocols and procedures to assure that those children are going to be reunited in a timely manner,” she said. “They’re already scared.”
Her fear is that other unaccompanied minors could fall into the wrong hands. For Xally and her family, they’re grateful for this moment.
“It’s a miracle to have Xally here with us,” her sister said.
United Giving Hope is currently working on four reunification cases.
NBC Chicago reached out to ORR for a comment in Xully’s specific case, but have yet to hear back.
