Recent Dater High School grad and soccer star Emerson Colindres is speaking out about his deportation.
On June 4, 19-year-old Colindres was going for a routine check with immigration officials when he was detained in front of his mom. He has no criminal record.
He was held in the Butler County Jail for nearly two weeks, then deported back to Honduras Wednesday.
Colindres’ mother, Ada Bell Baquedano Amador, says his call after landing in Honduras is the first time she was able to virtually see her son since his detention.
“I miss my mom,” Colindres said in a video call with FOX19 NOW. “I miss my sister. I want to see them. When am I going to see them? I was just sad, like I was really sad. Obviously, I’m going to push through it because I have to, but I was just sad. I just need to see my mom and my sister. I miss them a lot.”
Amador recounted some conversations between her and Colindres about his time in detention.
“He said, ‘Mom, you’ll never imagine the questions they were asking me. They asked if I knew where I was going. If I had family here, I didn’t know what to tell them. I left Honduras when I was 8. I don’t remember anything.’”
When Colindres was deported, he left behind his mother and sister, who were also given a deportation order.
Amador says she and her daughter are leaving for Honduras Monday.
Amador and her family applied for asylum when they arrived in the U.S. in 2014. Their application was denied, and they were given a final removal order in 2023. Since then, they’ve followed immigration protocols until they were given a date to leave the country.
“When someone is doing something wrong and they don’t follow the rules, you expect anything. But, us, we never expected this to happen,” she said.
Colindres recounts the moment he was put into cuffs in front of his mother.
“That’s what hurt me the most that moment right there,” he said. “I told myself I would never be in the position to where my mom would have to see me in handcuffs or in jail, and then when she looked at me, she was lost. She couldn’t speak. But that’s one of the most painful things I went through because I’ve never been separated from my mom, like, ever.”
Emerson spent two weeks in the Butler County Jail. He says his time there was difficult. Meanwhile, family, friends and teammates held protests outside the jail for his release.
“I’m going to miss the people the most,” Colindres said. “I have an amazing group of people. I’m going to miss them a lot. I have a lot of people that I learned throughout this process that care for me a lot.”
Amador and her 16-year-old daughter are packing their belongings as they prepare to join Emerson in Honduras to start their new life, riddled with uncertainty.
“We’re not leaving with a bad taste in our mouths,” she said. “We aren’t going to judge a country as a whole having people from here by our side.”
Ada says her priority now is to help Emerson overcome what he experienced during his final days in the U.S.
FOX19 NOW reporter Brenda Ordoñez asked Colindres if he thinks this experience has changed him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I don’t know for the better or for the worse. I’ll say it made me stronger. Made me realize the love of people. People out there would go through a lot of things for me. It made me realize a lot of things. It did change me… a lot.”
When asked about what he plans to do with his new life in Honduras, Colindres says that in the coming days, he plans to try out for local soccer teams in Honduras as he continues to pursue his dreams of becoming a professional soccer player.
This story was provided by Enquirer media partner FOX19 NOW.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘I miss my mom.’ 19-year-old from Cheviot, deported to Honduras, faces uncertain future
Reporting by Brenda Ordonez / Cincinnati Enquirer
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