A 2-year-old girl who was separated from her parents for deportation arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday, with her mother being expelled from the United States, a move that South American countries repeatedly condemned the kidnapping.

Maikelys Espinoza and more than 220 deported immigrants arrived at airports outside the capital Caracas.

Video broadcast on state television shows that Venezuela's first lady Cilia Flores took Maikelys to the airport. Later, Flores President Nicholas Maduro.

The U.S. government claims that the family separation last month makes sense because the girl's parents allegedly linked to the Tren de Aragua gang of Venezuela, where President Trump appointed a terrorist group earlier this year.

Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said at the airport Wednesday that the toddler’s return was “a daily battle and today we have a huge victory.”

The girl's mother was deported to Venezuela on April 25. Meanwhile, U.S. authorities cite a 18th century wartime law Hundreds of immigrants were deported.

For years, the Maduro administration has largely refused entry of immigrants who were deported from the United States, but since Trump took office this year, hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants, including about 180 days at a naval base in Gutanamo Bay, Cuba, have been deported to their homeland.

Agence France-Presse reported that Maduro thanked Mr. Trump for his return of his toddler on Wednesday. Maduro welcomed the little girl at the Presidential Palace in Caracas, thanking Mr. Trump for his “deep humane behavior.”

The Trump administration said the Venezuelans sent to Guantanamo and El Salvador were members of Tren de Aragua, but provided little evidence to support the allegation.

"It has existed and there will be differences, but it is possible that with God's blessing, we move forward and solve many problems," Maduro said. "I hope and long for a moment we can also rescue the father of Maikelys in El Salvador and 253 Venezuelans."