Families of Venezuelans deported from the US search quake zone

Venezuelan mother Yuli Salcedo waits outside the hospital where her son, Anderson Daniel Salcedo, remains hospitalized. After working as a construction worker in the U.S. for more than three years, the 22-year-old had just been repatriated to Venezuela on Wednesday, hours before the deadly earthquake struck. Salcedo and more than 140 other returning migrants were sent to a government-run hotel for processing. There they remained when the building collapsed. Yulis recounted how she waited for her son's homecoming. The flight arrived at 11 a.m. Then they went through all the migratory process. He called me at 5 p.m. and told me, I love you so much, mom. See you tomorrow at home. Salcedo's grandmother said by phone that he was rescued 40 hours after the quakes, suffering life-changing injuries. Most of the other 140 deportees were likely killed, according to relatives. Salcedo's family, along with relatives of other migrants lost in the hotel collapse, have questioned why deportees were taken there and why their phones and documents were withheld, complicating efforts to find and identify them. The government's return to the Homeland Grand Mission, which receives returning migrants, did not immediately respond to questions from Reuters. Three days after the quakes, it posted a statement online expressing condolences for the victims. The government says at least 1,750 people were killed in the quakes, which also injured thousands and left some 16,000 homeless. Back at the hospital, Salcedo called for accountability. I want justice. I want justice because it's not fair that my son is lying in that bed with respiratory support, with his legs amputated at the age of 21. I'm asking for justice because this government can do to us Venezuelans whatever they want.