Caracas (AFP) – Hundreds of people protested in Caracas Thursday demanding the return of at least 30 children who remain in the United States after being separated from their Venezuelan parents during deportation.

Mariale Castellano, deported on May 28, was among the protesters, pleading for the return of her nine-year-old daughter who is still in the United States in the care of a foster family.

"I was four to five months waiting for deportation with her, but it didn't happen," the 26-year-old mother said.

At the protest, a woman read out a letter, later handed over to the UN office in Caracas, asking for "urgent action in favor of the return" of children separated from their parents.

Protesters carried white balloons, photos of the young children and signs saying "SOS, USA, release our children."

On June 30, the Venezuelan government denounced the "kidnapping" of 18 children under the age of 12.

But the number of children stranded in the United States has increased since then.

Protesters at the march also called for the return of 252 Venezuelans deported on March 15 to El Salvador by US President Donald Trump, as part of his crackdown on undocumented people alleged to be violent criminals.

"Trump, we ask you from our hearts, return our sons, they are Venezuelans," said Maria Venegas, a relative of one of the Venezuelan deportees being held at El Salvador's maximum security CECOT prison.

Official figures show that between February and the first week of July, some 7,000 people -- about 1,000 of them children -- have been repatriated to Venezuela from the United States and Mexico.