Washington, DC — As CBS, NBC and others reported, “A Texas man is fighting to get his wife and four children back after he says they were unexpectedly deported to Mexico. Federico Arellano is a U.S. citizen, and says three of his four kids are too. He says there has been a misunderstanding and that his family was misled … ICE agents deported Arellano’s wife, Christina Salazar, and their four kids to Mexico last week after they say they were told to come to the ICE field office in Houston to discuss Salazar’s immigration case … A judge signed off on the order in early October after Salazar missed an immigration hearing. The family says Salazar was recovering from giving birth to premature twins and doctors recommended she recover at home during that time. Arellano said he informed the court about the situation and claims they reassured him by phone the date could be rescheduled.”
Mario Carillo, Campaigns Manager for America’s Voice, said: “This story of family separation would be horrific under any president, but is especially troubling in the final weeks of a Biden administration. It does not make America safer, better or greater to deport American children and a mother who has tried to comply with the requirements of her immigration status. Moms of newborn U.S. citizen kids shouldn’t be targets for overzealous ICE agents under any president.
Of course, we can expect more of this cruelty under the Trump administration – all of which will generate backlash from the American public, who wants a different vision on immigration that recognizes these families should be together and moms like Christina and dads like Federico should have a chance to see their children grow up and thrive in the nation in which they were born. Christina and her children should be allowed to become full U.S. citizens and not be deportation targets.”
See this roundup of recent American public opinion that reminds us that Americans want immigration solutions and prefer legalization over Trump style deportations: Donald Trump Doesn’t Have a Mandate for Mass Deportation, Mass Cruelty and Mass Family Separation
