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Saturday, December 21, 2019

ICE reopening long-closed deportation cases against Dreamers

The letter this fall from Immigrations and Customs Enforcement turned Zoila Pelayo’s life on end. Stunned, she read that the agency was filing to reopen a deportation case against her that had been closed nearly eight years ago.

Pelayo, 33, lives with her husband and two young children in Tucson, Arizona. Her parents brought her there from Mexico without documentation when she was 6. As a “Dreamer” who has been shielded from deportation since 2012 under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and who has stayed out of trouble with the law, Pelayo believed she was safe.

“I never thought they would reopen my case,” she said. “I feel like I’m an American … If they send me back to Mexico what are my kids going to do without me? What am I going to do without them?”

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Take them with you like your parents did to you. Then apply for US citizenship just like so many legal immigrants have done.

Anonymous said...

She has had 7 years to try and become a legal citizen or at least get a green card and it appears she has done NOTHING to help her self! No pity here! Do Something, anything to get it right. But don't wait for it to be handed to you...Mexican Privaledge?