New Hulu documentary 'Asylum' shows families' long, difficult journey for refuge in US
Elmer John Gomez was forcibly separated from his daughter Marisol for more than a year.
"I've lost her, but God willing, I'll get her back," Gomez said in Spanish.
The two were separated in June 2018 under former President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy. They'd fled Honduras after Gomez, a policeman, said he and his family received death threats.
Gomez was deported, but his teenage daughter was kept at an immigration detention center in Texas.
"They'd tell me, '[Your dad's] coming. Wait for him. You'll see, he's coming,'" said Marisol Gomez, also in Spanish. "And me with my tears, he never came."
She was eventually released to a shelter, then later to relatives in Wisconsin.
With the help of aid groups, Gomez reentered the U.S. to find his daughter and claim asylum.
A new ABC News documentary, "Asylum," now available on Hulu, followed two families for more than a year, including that of Gomez, who embarked on a harrowing 3,000-mile journey back to the U.S. to get his daughter back.
"When we reached Tijuana, I was very hopeful about being with my daughter again," Gomez said. "While we were in Tijuana, the lawyers were getting us ready."
"I knew it wasn't going to be easy, because it's not easy to enter the United States," he added.
Lawyer Erika Pinheiro works with parents who were deported without their children. She said she feared for what might happen to the parents once they're allowed back into the U.S. and possibly detained again although "they were one step closer to being with their kids."
"They all have a legal right to ask to be considered for asylum in the United States. They've all suffered immeasurable harm," Pinheiro added.
Pinheiro's worries proved true. When Gomez was allowed to enter the U.S., he was detained and separated from his then-pregnant wife.
"I kept thinking about my pregnant wife. We were separated. Men on one side, women on the other, and children on the other," Gomez recalled.
The filmmakers followed the families for more than a year, filming unexpected twists in their quest for asylum. After 45 days in detention, their cameras captured the day Gomez was released.
Family separation continues to haunt many. The American Civil Liberties Union estimated in 2021 that more than 1,000 families remained separated because of the zero-tolerance policy.
The Gomez family is considered one of the lucky ones.
After his release, Gomez traveled to Wisconsin, where he reunited with his daughter. He said he asked for his daughter's forgiveness.
"The detention, the separation. That cannot be cured easily. At a certain point, I regretted it," said Gomez. "I said to her, 'Forgive me. It wasn't my intention. I've always wanted what's best for you.'"
