How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention
This article tells the story of Maria Antonia Guerra Montoya, a 9-year-old Colombian girl who was detained with her mother at the Dilley, Texas immigration detention facility for nearly four months after being intercepted at Miami International Airport while arriving for a planned Disney World vacation. Maria Antonia — who had a valid tourist visa and whose mother was in the process of applying for a green card after marrying a U.S. citizen — spent 42 hours in airport holding rooms before being transferred to Dilley, where she struggled with the food as a vegetarian, fainted twice, woke up crying at night fearing permanent separation from her mother, and watched friends she made inside the facility cycle in and out as they were released or deported. The reporter, who gained rare access to the facility, received a letter from Maria Antonia decorated with rainbows and hearts that included a self-portrait of herself and her mother in their detention uniforms, with a note that read "I am not happy, please get me out of here." After an immigration judge granted voluntary departure in January, the family was finally sent back to Colombia in February, and the article ends with a video of Maria Antonia running to embrace her teachers and best friend outside her school — finally home.