LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. — A video with the unsettling sights and sounds of children crying inside a car is catching widespread attention on social media.
What prompted the tears, however has become a source of scrutiny and concern.
The Domingo family recorded the tense moments when the U.S. Border Patrol pulled them over Sunday afternoon.
Their 18-year-old daughter, who they said is a U.S. citizen, was behind the wheel and was told by the officer she didn’t do anything wrong, but the family says the officer scanned their license plate which showed the car was registered to a non-citizen.
Maria and Abraham Domingo stepped out of the car, complying with the officer’s orders.
The footage captured the couple hugging their family members during an emotional goodbye when they were separated from their five children and detained.
The Guatemalan Maya Center in Lake Worth Beach posted the video. Mariana Blanco is the director of operations for the nonprofit.
The organization has based in South Florida for more than thirty years and passionate about advocating for families like the Domingos.
“They were just making one last stop to buy some new shoes for the beginning of the school year, when they were racially profiled and detained,” she said. “I know that they’ve been on the legal process for years. They migrated here because of the Guatemalan genocide in the 80s and they’ve been here for over 20 years. They’ve established a family here.”
Blanco says emotional scenes like this one have become familiar, especially as the immigration crackdown ramps up.
“There’s no real way to win,” said Blanco. “I think it’s always the children that end up losing.”
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