"She was deported without her toddler. Then ICE blamed her for his killing." That's the story The Washington Post is going with. Tragically, a toddler is dead, but it's sick for The Washington Post to frame the story this way. How many times have we heard from (former) members of Congress like Eric Swalwell that ICE is deporting four-year-olds with cancer, or little five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, who CBS News relayed is in therapy and "still living with the trauma" after his mother refused to unlock the door and let him in.
ICE accused Wendy Hernandez Reyes of leaving her 2-year-old son with a violent uncle who allegedly abused and killed him.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 16, 2026
She says her son would still be alive if officers hadn’t detained and deported her. https://t.co/Sfti7jU1eX
Monstrous behavior by ICE and Alabama police, who blamed a Honduran mother for "abandoning" her child when they arrested & deported her without him. The son, Orlin, a US citizen, was then murdered by abusive relative and Trump admin wont let her return to bury him. Nightmarish. pic.twitter.com/hsVSXthuZy
— Eric Lee (@EricLeeAtty) May 16, 2026
Here's the deal. Wendy Hernandez Reyes was detained and deported because she was living here illegally. She had the choice to take her two-year-old son with her, but chose instead to leave the anchor baby with an uncle who killed him. Sounds like Mom made a lot of bad choices.
Maria Sacchetti reports:
After U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained his mother, 2-year-old Orlin Hernandez Reyes moved into a shed.
His uncle, Samuel Maldonado Erazo, was charged with taking care of the toddler and his three cousins, the oldest of whom was 7, while Orlin’s mother and her sister waited in ICE detention to be deported to Honduras.
…
An autopsy showed he had multiple broken bones. There were signs his tiny body had been sexually battered. Authorities allege Maldonado repeatedly struck Orlin in the head, stomped on his body and burned his skin with a lighter. His hands bore bruises, a sign that Orlin had tried to shield himself from the blows. The coroner listed his cause of death as multiple blunt force traumas.
Maldonado has been charged with murder and pleaded not guilty.
In a statement a week after Orlin died, acting ICE director Todd M. Lyons berated Orlin’s mother, Wendy Hernandez Reyes, alleging that she had “abandoned” her child to the man who allegedly killed him — an undocumented immigrant who “never should’ve been in this country in the first place,” but was nonetheless allowed to care for the children while Orlin’s mother was in detention.
“Reyes chose to leave her son here with a violent murderer who took his life,” he asserted.
It sounds to us like Samuel Maldonado Erazo is the bad guy in this story, not Todd Lyons.
“an immigration judge ordering her deportation in 2023”
— Greg Scott (@greg_scott) May 16, 2026
Her son’s death was preventable. By her.
In 2023? That was by the Biden administration then, right?
Sounds like the only person to blame is the piece of crap uncle.
— Alex (@aalex2) May 16, 2026
Illegal alien Reyes CHOSE to leave her son with the uncle (also an illegal alien). That was her CHOICE, and her child paid the price for her illegal actions and poor decisions. 🤨This lowlife illegal cannot blame ICE for the consequences of HER choices. 🧐
— Marcus Mendoza (@MendozaVictor50) May 16, 2026
Let’s see now, refuse law enforcement help regarding your son when arrested, leave son with unfit relative instead who is responsible for his death. Blame law enforcement, WaPo likes the narrative and runs with it. Hacks.
— DougM (@DougM956) May 16, 2026
She wants to shift the blame from her own poor, criminal decisions, to attack legitimate law and immigration enforcement.
— Eiron Prosopon (@EironProsopon) May 16, 2026
WaPo the quisling who gives her a voice to criticize its sworn enemy.
We recognize you as an enemy of the state.
She didn’t take her child with her. He would be alive if she had. Rather than face that hard truth she is shifting the blame. She chose to be separated and placed her child with a family member that killed him. It’s heartbreaking but ultimately the fault is hers.
— Lulu (@Lulu72835347) May 16, 2026
Who leaves their son? Why didn’t she take him with her?
— Luke Gandalf Potter (@twitservative) May 16, 2026
Let this be a lesson to all illegal aliens to take their anchor babies with them. ICE should send them back to their parent’s country’s CPS.
— Lisa Blackerby Wells (@WellsBlackerby) May 16, 2026
The mother opted to leave him with a relative who beat him to death instead of taking him with her. How is this on ICE other than enforcing immigration law?
— Chris McKeever (@chrismckeever) May 16, 2026
We hate to say it, but attempts at emotional manipulation like this by the media only harden our hearts even more. It's very sad that the toddler was killed by his uncle. "While in Florida, she missed her court hearing, which resulted in an immigration judge ordering her deportation in 2023. Nonetheless, her dream was for Orlin to grow up in the U.S., and under the Biden administration, she was not a target for removal," writes Sacchetti. She was not a target for removal, even though an immigration judge ordered her deportation. That's the Biden administration in a nutshell.