She is a grandmother and she is the backbone of the family, her daughter says. She’s also a hard worker who loves to sing and dance with her granddaughters. She is also an unauthorized immigrant, according to a recent report by the San Diego Union Tribune.
The grandmother has been deported to Mexico after being taken into custody by immigrantion agents on Valentine’s Day and then held for two weeks.
The 43-year-old was an enforcement priority, officials told her daughter. They said that more than a decade ago, the woman allegedly lied on paperwork to get welfare benefits, her 27-year-old daughter recalls. She adds that she does not remember her mother ever receiving public assistance, however.
Quite the opposite, in fact. She remembers her mom working three jobs to pay the bills, cleaning houses, apartments and hotels to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads.
The San Diego Union-Tribune said it could not find any records of a conviction or violation by the deported woman.
The daughter says her mom made her way from Mexico in the U.S. at just 16 years old. She came with her husband their month-old baby.
“She was a child trying to make a way for her own child.”
The other grandmother in the family is an active duty Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. She said that because she is often on deployments around the world, she has been unable to be a grandmother the way that the undocumented immigrant grandma has been.
“She’s just incredibly loving,” the Lt. Col. said of the deported grandmother. “I wish I could be that loving.”
Families struggling with immigrantion issues can speak with a skilled San Diego attorney experienced in deportation defense.
