Boy, 10, is forced to represent HIMSELF in Texas court after his mother was hurled into immigrant custody

Published: 00:12, 1 May 2026 | Updated: 00:13, 1 May 2026 A 10-year-old boy from Venezuela was reportedly forced to represent himself in immigration court after his mother was taken into custody. Wilfredo Gomez did not have any legal representation when he appeared in court last week in Houston, Texas, as he faces deportation to Ecuador. 'I was so scared because it was my first time in court,' the boy told Univision.  Gomez's mother, Nexoli, had been detained back in December during a traffic stop, Fox San Antonio reports. With no other family in the United States, Nexoli's former boss, Marife Mosquera, is now serving as the boy's legal guardian. She said she recently received a letter from the Department of Homeland Security, informing her that the federal government has begun deportation proceedings for the 10 year old. Mosquera also said she was informed that due to Nexoli's arrest, Wilfredo's case is now independent. She has since asked the department for more information about its request to deport the boy. But in the meantime, Wilfredo has lost weight and his grades in school have started to slip.  Wilfredo Gomez, 10, was reportedly forced to represent himself in immigration court last week The boy's mother, Nexoli, was detained following a traffic stop in December. The boy's legal guardian said she has since received notice that his case is now independent of Nexoli's 'She used to encourage me a lot,' Wilfredo said of his mother. 'She still encourages me, but it's not the same.' His case has drawn the attention of Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro, of Texas, who called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to release Nexoli and stop its deportation case against Wilfredo immediately. 'Wilfredo is 10 years old. Last week, he represented himself in immigration court,' Castro posted to X on Wednesday. 'His mother, Nexoli, was detained in Houston and has been locked up and away from her son since December.' Castro then went on to claim that the Department of Homeland Security wants to deport the 10 year old to Ecuador, 'a place he has never been and knows no one.' 'Nexoli has a work permit and was trying to do everything the right way,' the congressman continued. 'ICE must release her and stop its case to deport Wilfredo immediately. 'He should be treated like a kid—not a criminal,' Castro added. His message was later reshared by Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council. '"A 10 year old represented himself in immigration court" is a dystopian statement that seems fake at first glance, but is actually a relatively common occurrence in our system,' he posted to X on Thursday, noting that 'One of the Trump admin's first acts was to strip funding for legal counsel for children.' The Daily Mail has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.  The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.