A school bus driver’s report about a schoolyard threat brought a Polk County deputy to Doris Flores’ door in January 2026 — and in the course of that visit, deputies discovered Flores and her partner, Egdulio Velasquez, were Honduran immigrants with outstanding deportation orders: his from a DUI conviction, hers from a missed asylum hearing she was appealing. Florida’s cooperation agreement with ICE turned that discovery into an arrest.
Deputies came for the family near midnight, taking Velasquez first and holding him for hours while they sorted out care for the children. Flores turned to her pastor, the Rev. Israel Vázquez, and his wife — without them, the state would have placed both girls, including 4-month-old Briany, in foster care. The pastors took the girls in as deputies handcuffed Flores.
“I brought her to my breast, but she doesn’t want it anymore.”
Getting Briany a passport took weeks and signatures from both parents while still in custody, but the family reunited briefly at the airport before Flores and the girls flew to Honduras; Velasquez was deported separately, later on. They’ve since settled with his father in rural Honduras, where the church that once sheltered the girls still sends formula — Briany hasn’t nursed since the night her parents were taken.
