President Donald Trump’s immigration policies have aimed to sustainably curb immigration numbers. However, they have not always had a very positive impact on those who have immigrated to America. In some cases, such as this, families are sadly separated from each other.
Recently, a pastor supporting the POTUS and his immigration policies reunited a mother from Venezuela and her three children. The story has captured the hearts of many and has gone viral on social media. The Texas pastor gave a rundown of how this emergency rescue came to be.
According to the Free Press, Maribis Beleno was first deported to Venezuela on August 5, 2025, for larceny, pickpocketing, and theft. She unfortunately couldn’t take her three children, aged 5, 10, and 12, with her. This caused them to live apart from each other for nearly five months.
This morning on @CBSNews, Free Press contributor@MckeanCarrie joined the show to discuss her Free Press story on the Texas mother deported to Venezuela without her kids and the Trump-supporting pastor who helped reunite them. pic.twitter.com/WQt5xtWAa6
— The Free Press (@TheFP) January 28, 2026
Before being deported to Venezuela, the mother recalled that her children were supposed to be with her. She claimed officials had assured her they would meet her at the airport or on the flight. Sadly, they weren’t there when she looked for them.
This kind of situation has left many families like Beleno’s separated, and reflects on the ongoing immigration crisis. Usually, it is protocol for officials to obtain a signed agreement when parents leave the country without their children. Whether or not such a protocol was followed is unconfirmed.
The mother said that her kids were left with a cousin, their aunt, in Dallas, Texas. The apartment was reportedly small and packed with six other children, assumed to be their cousins. The aunt who was looking after them was already experiencing a high-risk pregnancy, rendering her unable to properly care for her cousin’s kids.
The Texas pastor first learned about this family through an immigrant support network. He shared the story in a conversation with CBS News and the writer who penned their story from The Free Press, Carrie McKean.
Pastor Rodriguez revealed that the aunt who was caring for the kids was taken to the hospital, leaving the children without a guardian. It was at this point that the Texas pastor intervened, and the emergency rescue began.
Read the full story here: https://t.co/EWV9WXfhmT
— The Free Press (@TheFP) January 28, 2026
After their guardian was admitted to the hospital, pastor Rodriguez and his team reportedly had a five-hour window to rescue them. So he and his team drove all the way from Midland to Dallas, Texas, to help the children. This was after obtaining permission from their mother.
After being rescued, the children lived under the Texas pastor’s care for 55 days while the reunion was arranged. He helped with everything from fundraising to planning the perfect reunion around Thanksgiving weekend. The pastor did everything he possibly could to make it happen, along with the community that supported efforts.
When the Texas pastor was asked about the reason behind his actions by the CBS News anchor, he claimed that politics had nothing to do with it. Pastor Rodriguez affirmed that although he supported the Trump administration and its immigration policies, it didn’t influence his decision to reunite the family.
The Pastor cited his faith as a “disciple of Jesus” as the primary reason for helping Beleno’s family and others to reunite. He said, “We don’t want any child to walk by displacement all by themselves.”
