After 246 days of separation, this woman and her daughter are finally reunited.

Annie Reneau
01.28.19

Vilma and Yeisvi Carrillo's story captured the hearts of Americans who yearn for a more compassionate immigration system.

Vilma Carrillo came to the Mexico-United States border seeking asylum in the spring of 2018. Carrillo is an indigenous Guatemalan woman whose daughter Yeisvi is an American citizen. A victim of extreme domestic violence in a country that provided no legal protections for women like her, Carrillo felt that her best chance for safety for herself and Yeisvi was to return to the United States, where Carrillo lived and worked the year Yeisvi, now 12, was born.

However, the Trump administration's zero tolerance policy resulted in mother and daughter being forcibly separated when they reached the border and claimed asylum. Carrillo was detained by ICE, while Yeisvi was placed into the care of the state of Arizona. Carrillo's case has been dragging on for 8 months, with Carrillo holed up in a detention facility in Georgia and Yeisvi living with a foster family in Arizona.

Carrillo is one of many asylum seekers who have been unjustly affected by Trump administration policies.

In previous administrations, most asylum seekers with credible claims were temporarily released in the U.S. while they awaited their hearings, as long as the government determined they were not a flight risk. The Trump administration policy has been to release as few asylum seekers as possible, and it has recently enacted a policy to make asylum seekers remain in Mexico rather than stay with friends or family in the U.S. Carrillo and Yeisvi also arrived just as the Trump administration's "zero-tolerance" policy of separating parents from children was being enacted in full force.

Carrillo's case is complicated by the fact that her daughter is an American citizen. As a citizen, Yeisvi could not legally be detained and was not subject to a judicial ruling that detained parents and children had to be reunited by July 26, 2018. As a result, the mother and daughter did not see one another for 8 months.

Upworthy shared Carrillo's story last month, as the family's future hung in the balance. Legal advocates from Tahirih Justice Center shared a petition requesting ICE to release Carrillo while her case was pending, which was signed by more than 14,000 people.

Actor Penn Badgley (from CW's "Gossip Girl" and Neflix's "You") became Tahirih Justice Center's partner in advocating for Carrillo, and even visited her in the detention facility with Carrillo's lawyer, Shana Tabak. Badgley used his social media outlets to raise awareness of Carrillo's story, and detailed his experiences in an article he wrote for Teen Vogue. "Her treatment reflects the explicit use of fear as a tactic in certain U.S. policies," he wrote. "Vilma was being made into an example."

After 246 days of separation, Carrillo has been released and finally reunited with her daughter.

The mother and daughter were forcibly separated on May 10, 2018, and they weren't even able to talk on the phone until late June. After that, they spoke twice a week, but didn't see one another until ICE released Carrillo on January 11, 2019.

Imagine having your child taken from you, not fully understanding why or where your child is being taken, and then having no contact for almost two months and not being able to see them or hug them for eight months—all because you were going through the legal process of seeking safety after suffering severe trauma already.  

Carrillo's lawyer, Shana Tabak, told Upworthy that while Carrillo still has a long road ahead with her pending asylum appeal, she is just overjoyed to be with her daughter again. "Every time I see her, she's holding her hand or hugging her," Tabak says. "They're both just so thrilled to be back together."

However, their separation has taken its toll on both of them. "I did hear from Vilma that Yeisvi continues to get anxious anytime that her mom's not in eyesight," Tabak says. "She needs to be with her day and night now. She doesn't even want to go into the next room."

Asylum seekers have a temporary legal status in the U.S., pending the resolution of their case. Carrillo will apply for a work permit in Georgia, which asylum seekers are allowed to do 150 days after applying for asylum. Tabak says that Carrillo may go back to work in the onion fields in Vidalia, where she worked previously, and that "she is eager to work again and eager to have the opportunity to contribute to society in that way."  

Regarding her asylum claim and what the future holds, Tabak says Carrillo relies on her deep and abiding faith. "May God's hands touch the immigration judge's heart," Carrillo says. "I'm praying for the best. Everything is in God's hands."

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Florida city forecloses on man's home after fining him $30,000 for not mowing his lawn.

Youtube

Should a man lose his home because the grass in his yard grew higher than 10 inches? The city of Dunedin, Florida seems to think so.

According to the Institute of Justice, which is representing Jim Ficken, he had a very good reason for not mowing his lawn – and tried to rectify the situation as best he could.

In 2014, Jim's mom became ill and he visited her often in South Carolina to help her out. When he was away, his grass grew too long and he was cited by a code office; he cut the grass and wasn't fined.

France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

But several years later, this one infraction would come back to haunt him after he left to take care of him's mom's affairs after she died. The arrangements he made to have his grass cut fell through (his friend who he asked to help him out passed away unexpectedly) and that set off a chain reaction that may result in him losing his home.

The 69-year-old retiree now faces a $29,833.50 fine plus interest. Watch the video to find out just what Jim is having to deal with.

Mow Your Lawn or Lose Your House! www.youtube.com

florida dunedin lawn mowing jim ficken
Cities

Michelle Obama named 'most admired woman in the world,' because of course she is.

The world can't get enough Michelle.

Jimmy Kimmel Live/YouTube

The world officially loves Michelle Obama.

The former first lady has overtaken the number one spot in a poll of the world's most admired women. Conducted by online research firm YouGov, the study uses international polling tools to survey people in countries around the world about who they most admire.

In the men's category, Bill Gates took the top spot, followed by Barack Obama and Jackie Chan.

In the women's category, Michelle Obama came first, followed by Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie. Obama pushed Jolie out of the number one spot she claimed last year.

Unsurprising, really, because what's not to love about Michelle Obama? She is smart, kind, funny, accomplished, a great dancer, a devoted wife and mother, and an all-around, genuinely good person.

She has remained dignified and strong in the face of rabid masses of so-called Americans who spent eight years and beyond insisting that she's a man disguised as a woman. She's endured non-stop racist memes and terrifying threats to her family. She has received far more than her fair share of cruelty, and always takes the high road. She's the one who coined, "When they go low, we go high," after all.

She came from humble beginnings and remains down to earth despite becoming a familiar face around the world. She's not much older than me, but I still want to be like Michelle Obama when I grow up.

Her memoir, Becoming, may end up being the best-selling memoir of all time, having already sold 10 million copies—a clear sign that people can't get enough Michelle, because there's no such thing as too much Michelle.

Don't like Michelle Obama? Don't care. Those of us who love her will fly our MO flags high and without apology, paying no mind to folks with cold, dead hearts who don't know a gem of a human being when they see one. There is nothing any hater can say or do to make us admire this undeniably admirable woman any less.

When it seems like the world has lost its mind—which is how it feels most days these days—I'm just going to keep coming back to this study as evidence that hope for humanity is not lost.

Here. Enjoy some real-life Michelle on Jimmy Kimmel. (GAH. WHY IS SHE SO CUTE AND AWESOME. I can't even handle it.)

Michelle & Barack Obama are Boring Now www.youtube.com

michelle obama michelle obama birthday obama barack obama
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France has started forcing supermarkets to donate food instead of throwing it away.

via EarthFix / Flickr

What will future generations never believe that we tolerated in 2019?

Dolphin and orca captivity, for sure. They'll probably shake their heads at how people died because they couldn't afford healthcare. And, they'll be completely mystified at the amount of food some people waste while others go starving.

According to Biological Diversity, "An estimated 40 percent of the food produced in the United States is wasted every year, costing households, businesses and farms about $218 billion annually."

There are so many things wrong with this.

First of all it's a waste of money for the households who throw out good food. Second, it's a waste of all of the resources that went into growing the food, including the animals who gave their lives for the meal. Third, there's something very wrong with throwing out food when one in eight Americans struggle with hunger.

Supermarkets are just as guilty of this unnecessary waste as consumers. About 10% of all food waste are supermarket products thrown out before they've reached their expiration date.

Three years ago, France took big steps to combat food waste by making a law that bans grocery stores from throwing away edible food.According to the new ordinance, stores can be fined for up to $4,500 for each infraction.

Previously, the French threw out 7.1 million tons of food. Sixty-seven percent of which was tossed by consumers, 15% by restaurants, and 11% by grocery stores.

This has created a network of over 5,000 charities that accept the food from supermarkets and donate them to charity. The law also struck down agreements between supermarkets and manufacturers that prohibited the stores from donating food to charities.

"There was one food manufacturer that was not authorized to donate the sandwiches it made for a particular supermarket brand. But now, we get 30,000 sandwiches a month from them — sandwiches that used to be thrown away," Jacques Bailet, head of the French network of food banks known as Banques Alimentaires, told NPR.

It's expected that similar laws may spread through Europe, but people are a lot less confident at it happening in the United States. The USDA believes that the biggest barrier to such a program would be cost to the charities and or supermarkets.

"The logistics of getting safe, wholesome, edible food from anywhere to people that can use it is really difficult," the organization said according to Gizmodo. "If you're having to set up a really expensive system to recover marginal amounts of food, that's not good for anybody."

Plus, the idea may seem a little too "socialist" for the average American's appetite.

"The French version is quite socialist, but I would say in a great way because you're providing a way where they [supermarkets] have to do the beneficial things not only for the environment, but from an ethical standpoint of getting healthy food to those who need it and minimizing some of the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that come when food ends up in a landfill," Jonathan Bloom, the author of American Wasteland, told NPR.

However, just because something may be socialist doesn't mean it's wrong. The greater wrong is the insane waste of money, damage to the environment, and devastation caused by hunger that can easily be avoided.

Planet

Single dad asks his daughters for fashion advice before a date and strangers on social media responded with some helpful suggestions.

The world is dark and full of terrors, but every once in a while it graces us with something to warm our icy-cold hearts. And that is what we have today, with a single dad who went viral on Twitter after his daughter posted the photos he sent her when trying to pick out and outfit for his date. You love to see it.




After seeing these heartwarming pics, people on Twitter started suggesting this adorable man date their moms. It was essentially a mom and date matchmaking frenzy.

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