Baby left behind by illegal immigrants reunited with family
Jeremy Roebuck
March 31, 2008 - 11:52AM
LA JOYA — A 6-month-old child who was left in the United States when his parents were deported returned to Mexico with his family this weekend.

Mario Sanchez Ramirez's mother — Andrea Maria Ramirez Valdez, 20 — snuck back into the United States illegally over the weekend to claim her child despite official plans to reunite in Mexico today.

"I think she couldn't wait until Monday," said Miriam Medel Garcia, a spokeswoman for the Mexican consulate in McAllen.
Ramirez and her husband — Mario Agusto Sanchez Soto, 32 — left the child in the care of a family friend in La Joya on March 3, promising to return in five days.

According to police reports, the baby was suffering from dehydration and diarrhea, and the couple was afraid to take him with them as they traveled farther into the country. They were detained and deported by U.S. Border Patrol agents within two days.

When Ramirez and Sanchez never returned, the child's temporary caretaker became worried, setting off a weeklong international search for the parents.

Noticing Mexican media reports about the story, the couple returned to Reynosa and contacted consular officials, who tentatively planned to reunite the family on Monday, Garcia said.

But Ramirez took matters into her own hands and showed up at the La Joya police station Saturday morning.

Officer Joe Cantu, who first handled Mario's case, helped her contact Child Protective Services and the Consulate to arrange a hand-off.

After a string of affidavits and tests to ensure that the child legally belonged to Ramirez, mother and son were reunited.

"Just seeing the child again, she was very emotional," Cantu said. "He recognized her and was smiling and laughing."

Consular officials took the mother and son back across the border and granted Ramirez — a Honduran immigrant who entered Mexico illegally — five days to straighten out her legal residency or leave the country.

U.S. officials said they do not plan to press charges against the woman for re-entering the country illegally on Saturday.

"She did what she had to do to get her baby back and then left," Cantu said. "What can I say?"
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