Mum makes history as Trump’s first deported illegal immigrant

An illegal Mexican ­immigrant and the mother of two US-born children was deported yesterday.

‘I will keep fighting so my kids can keep studying in their home country,’ said Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos.

An illegal Mexican ­immigrant, the mother of two US-born children, who was previously considered a low priority for ­removal from the country was deported yesterday, a case that follows President Donald Trump’s promise to step up deportations.

Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, who had lived in the Phoenix area since age 14, is likely the first person unlawfully in the country to be removed under a new Trump ­administration crackdown on ­illegal immigrants, advocates said.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said deportation ­officers had removed Ms Garcia de Rayos, 35, shortly before 10am on Thursday (4am yesterday AEST) through Nogales, Arizona, which borders the city by the same name in the Mexican state of Sonora.

“Ms Garcia, who has a prior ­felony conviction in Arizona for criminal impersonation, was the subject of a court-issued removal order that became final in July 2013,” the agency said, adding that her case had been reviewed by multiple levels of the immigration court system.

It is common for undocumented immigrants to use false identification to secure jobs. Identity theft is a felony, which would make Ms Garcia de Rayos a target for ­removal under an executive order signed on January 25 by Mr Trump. He instructed authorities to deport undocumented immigrants convicted of any crimes. His order on immigration lists those who commit “fraud or wilful misrepresentation” on government applications.

President Barack Obama had prioritised the deportation of violent offenders and recent border crossers, a policy his administration said was justified given limited enforcement resources.

Ms Garcia de Rayos said yesterday that she didn’t regret her decision to report to ICE despite knowing she’d risk getting ­arrested.

She spoke from the Kino Border Initiative, a soup kitchen and shelter in Nogales, Mexico, where many migrants go after being ­deported. Her US-citizen children were by her side, their first time in Mexico, their mother said.

“I’m doing this for my kids so they have a better life. I will keep fighting so they can keep studying in their home country,” she said.

“We’re a united family. We’re a family who goes to church on Sundays, we work in advocacy. We’re active.”

Ms Garcia de Rayos says she’s not sure what comes next for her but that her parents, who live in the Mexican state of Guanajuato, are headed to Nogales to reunite with her. Her lawyer, Ray Ybarra Maldonado, said there weren’t many legal avenues for her to come back to the US.

“Getting back to the US, legally, there’s really no route for her. There’s no avenue for her. There’s no application she can submit. There’s no waiver she can submit,” Mr Maldonado said.

Arizona for years has been the epicentre of the national immigration debate. The state wrangled with the Obama administration over enforcement and passed a law making it a crime for immigrants to fail to carry papers proving legal status. Parts of that law, known as SB 1070, were struck down by courts. The state, which leans conservative, is also home to a large and growing Hispanic community. According to a study released yesterday by Pew Research Centre, the Phoenix metro area is home to 250,000 undocumented immigrants.

Mr Trump, who won in Arizona, appealed to many voters in the border state because of his hard line on illegal immigration.

Ms Garcia de Rayos was ­arrested in 2009 during a worksite raid conducted by then-Maricopa sheriff Joe Arpaio. He lost a re-election bid in November, and faces contempt charges in federal court stemming from a racial profiling case connected to his immigration enforcement strategy.

Despite being ordered removed, she had been allowed to remain in the country under supervision, reporting periodically to an ICE office in Phoenix. On Thursday, she was detained when she visited the ICE office for a scheduled check-in as required.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton condemned the deportation.

“Rather than tracking down ­violent criminals and drug dealers, ICE is spending its energy deporting a woman with two American children who has lived here for more than two decades and poses a threat to nobody,” he said. He said the city wouldn’t co-operate with Mr Trump’s “aim to advance his mass deportation plans”.

Randy Pullen, former chairman of the Arizona GOP, said while the deportation was unfortunate for the immigrant’s family, she should have been deported when she was originally caught.

Police said seven protesters were arrested when dozens of demonstrators surrounded an ICE van they believed would carry Ms Garcia de Rayos to the border for deportation.

WSJ, AP