Orlando-born 12-year-old twin sisters describe the moment they realized they were being deported to Guatemala with their mother, Marly Morataya-Zepeda.”I thought my mom was just going to, like, go and then come back, but then they told us I had to go with my mom, and I was sad,” said one of the twins. The girls spent hours on a flight from Orlando to Texas, then Guatemala, only to be returned the same day.”I was really scared because I didn’t know what was happening at that moment. Like, if I was going to go to school there, if I was going to come back. I did not really know what was happening,” said the other twin. It all started on March 9, when their mother was ordered to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Orlando.She was told to bring documents and her daughters.Moratoya-Zepeda came as told, but with her attorney, Ilia Garrity-Lopez, by her side. Her daughters were in the parking lot with their grandmother, who is a legal U.S. resident.Morataya-Zepeda said she made it clear to ICE that she wanted her daughters to live with their grandmother, but she says ICE told her she either takes the girls with her or the girls would have to go to the Department of Children and Families.”As a mother, I don’t think anyone wants something of that magnitude, that trauma for their children,” Morataya-Zepeda said. Garrity-Lopez told ICE Officer Christine Jaehne, who was named in court documents, that Morataya-Zepeda did not want to bring the girls in, as it was their legal right not to be detained because they’re U.S. citizens.”The officer immediately came out of her office and detained Marly right next to me. She was taken aback. She did not allow me to go in with Marly,” Garrity-Lopez said. Garrity-Lopez then talked with the ICE director as to why they wanted the girls to come to the building.Garrity-Lopez said she asked the director for three weeks, enough time to file for temporary custody for the girls to live with their grandmother. While Garrity-Lopez was engaged in that conversation, she said Jaehne called the grandmother and told her to bring the girls to the ICE entrance.”I’m inside the building, and I see the officer, Jaehne, walking in holding the girls. She brought them into the building, and I never saw them again,” Garrity-Lopez said.Forty-five minutes later, Garrity-Lopez said ICE told her the family was gone. She says their reasoning was to follow the department’s “family unity” policy. However, in this case, the mother’s wish was to keep the girls in the U.S., which was ignored.Garrity-Lopez said she left the ICE facility and immediately contacted two other attorneys to join her in filing a petition to return the twins as well as a lawsuit against ICE.”We filed at 2 in the morning. At eight in the morning, we got a notice for a hearing from the judge who requested everybody to come into his courtroom and give explanations,” said Garrity-Lopez.She said ICE told the judge it was a misunderstanding and that they were trying to keep the family together.The twins and their mother said they saw immigrants who were being deported alone, chained up. The entire ordeal was frightening and traumatic, but once they arrived in Guatemala, a miracle happened.”I didn’t know what was happening. They asked me if I wanted to go back or stay. I asked, why? They said they could not explain,” said Morataya-Zepeda.Today, the family is back together, but the girls don’t know when their mother could be forced to leave the country. She now wears an ankle monitor and has to make regular visits to ICE. Her greater concern is for her children and others, whom she hopes never have to experience what her girls did.”Don’t treat children bad. Not the kids. They have done nothing wrong,” said Morataya-Zepeda.We reached out to ICE for comment and to ask if any officers have or will face disciplinary action, but we have not yet heard back. We also reached out to Rep. Maxwell Frost, who sent us this response on the matter: “It is shameful and unacceptable that two U.S. citizen children from Orlando were illegally placed on a deportation flight to Guatemala. This is what happens when an agency operates with a deport first, ask questions later mindset that tears families apart. ICE is not after the “worst of the worst.” They are after innocent people and children. This is exactly why we cannot continue to fund an agency that operates this way without real accountability and reform. My team and I have been in touch with the family and the attorneys and my team also went with the family to their most recent appointment with ICE to ensure that ICE complied with the family’s rights. We’ll be demanding answers from ICE on how this awful incident was allowed to happen and fight to rein in their lawlessness.”

ORLANDO, Fla. —

Orlando-born 12-year-old twin sisters describe the moment they realized they were being deported to Guatemala with their mother, Marly Morataya-Zepeda.

“I thought my mom was just going to, like, go and then come back, but then they told us I had to go with my mom, and I was sad,” said one of the twins.

The girls spent hours on a flight from Orlando to Texas, then Guatemala, only to be returned the same day.

“I was really scared because I didn’t know what was happening at that moment. Like, if I was going to go to school there, if I was going to come back. I did not really know what was happening,” said the other twin.

It all started on March 9, when their mother was ordered to check in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Orlando.

She was told to bring documents and her daughters.

Moratoya-Zepeda came as told, but with her attorney, Ilia Garrity-Lopez, by her side.

Her daughters were in the parking lot with their grandmother, who is a legal U.S. resident.

Morataya-Zepeda said she made it clear to ICE that she wanted her daughters to live with their grandmother, but she says ICE told her she either takes the girls with her or the girls would have to go to the Department of Children and Families.

“As a mother, I don’t think anyone wants something of that magnitude, that trauma for their children,” Morataya-Zepeda said.

Garrity-Lopez told ICE Officer Christine Jaehne, who was named in court documents, that Morataya-Zepeda did not want to bring the girls in, as it was their legal right not to be detained because they’re U.S. citizens.

“The officer immediately came out of her office and detained Marly right next to me. She was taken aback. She did not allow me to go in with Marly,” Garrity-Lopez said.

Garrity-Lopez then talked with the ICE director as to why they wanted the girls to come to the building.

Garrity-Lopez said she asked the director for three weeks, enough time to file for temporary custody for the girls to live with their grandmother.

While Garrity-Lopez was engaged in that conversation, she said Jaehne called the grandmother and told her to bring the girls to the ICE entrance.

“I’m inside the building, and I see the officer, Jaehne, walking in holding the girls. She brought them into the building, and I never saw them again,” Garrity-Lopez said.

Forty-five minutes later, Garrity-Lopez said ICE told her the family was gone. She says their reasoning was to follow the department’s “family unity” policy.

However, in this case, the mother’s wish was to keep the girls in the U.S., which was ignored.

Garrity-Lopez said she left the ICE facility and immediately contacted two other attorneys to join her in filing a petition to return the twins as well as a lawsuit against ICE.

“We filed at 2 in the morning. At eight in the morning, we got a notice for a hearing from the judge who requested everybody to come into his courtroom and give explanations,” said Garrity-Lopez.

She said ICE told the judge it was a misunderstanding and that they were trying to keep the family together.

The twins and their mother said they saw immigrants who were being deported alone, chained up.

The entire ordeal was frightening and traumatic, but once they arrived in Guatemala, a miracle happened.

“I didn’t know what was happening. They asked me if I wanted to go back or stay. I asked, why? They said they could not explain,” said Morataya-Zepeda.

Today, the family is back together, but the girls don’t know when their mother could be forced to leave the country.

She now wears an ankle monitor and has to make regular visits to ICE.

Her greater concern is for her children and others, whom she hopes never have to experience what her girls did.

“Don’t treat children bad. Not the kids. They have done nothing wrong,” said Morataya-Zepeda.

We reached out to ICE for comment and to ask if any officers have or will face disciplinary action, but we have not yet heard back.

We also reached out to Rep. Maxwell Frost, who sent us this response on the matter:

“It is shameful and unacceptable that two U.S. citizen children from Orlando were illegally placed on a deportation flight to Guatemala. This is what happens when an agency operates with a deport first, ask questions later mindset that tears families apart. ICE is not after the “worst of the worst.” They are after innocent people and children. This is exactly why we cannot continue to fund an agency that operates this way without real accountability and reform. My team and I have been in touch with the family and the attorneys and my team also went with the family to their most recent appointment with ICE to ensure that ICE complied with the family’s rights. We’ll be demanding answers from ICE on how this awful incident was allowed to happen and fight to rein in their lawlessness.”