DHS said the child was “repatriated to Venezuela pursuant to a court order,” after spending 302 days in the custody of Office of Refugee Resettlement.
In March, the US deported the father Maiker Espinoza-Escalona to a notorious prison in El Salvador, according to the Venezuelan government. The mother Yorelys Bernal was later deported on a flight to Venezuela without her daughter.
On Wednesday, the girl was reunited with her mother and grandmother at the presidential palace in Caracas. State TV showed Bernal crying tears of joy as she held her daughter tightly in her arms.
President Nicolás Maduro said Venezuelan officials had coordinated with lawyers and rights groups in the US to secure the girl’s return.
“I have to thank in fairness Ambassador Richard Grenell, special envoy of (US) President Donald Trump, for his efforts. And with Ambassador Richard Grenell, thank President Donald Trump, as well,” he said.
“There have been and there will be differences, but it’s possible with God’s blessing to move forward.”
CNN has reached out to the US State Department’s Venezuela Affairs Unit for more information.