 "Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez arrived in the US during a time of continuous terrorism and violence in Colombia, where the government was engaged in a two-front conflict with left-wing guerrillas and drug cartels. Image courtesy: X")
A regular visit to immigration authorities placed a couple at a tipping point after they were detained and deported back to Colombia earlier this month.
The two undocumented immigrants have reportedly been deported after 35 years of living with their three US-born children in California.
The couple’s three adult daughters said the action comes despite their parents never breaking the law after arriving in the US or missing an appointment with immigration authorities.
“This sudden occurrence has left us in shock,” they said.
The latest action comes as the Donald Trump-led administration cracks down on illegal immigrants and attempts to deport them.
Let’s take a closer look.
The couple deported to Colombia
The couple, who are said to be in their 50s, were arrested on February 21 during a routine check-in with US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE). They were held for three and a half weeks before they were ultimately allowed to return to their home country of Colombia on March 18.
Stephanie Gonzalez, their daughter, told CNN via email that her parents showed up before a Santa Ana immigration court last month “just like they have been doing since 2000.”
The couple’s children, who are all reportedly US citizens, claimed in a GoFundMe post that their parents never violated the law or failed to show up for an appointment with immigration officials.
While crossing the border without permission is a criminal misdemeanour, staying in the US without permission is a civil infraction rather than a crime.
“This sudden occurrence has left us in shock. For nearly four decades, they have built a life here – raising three daughters, giving back to their community, and recently welcoming their first grandchild,” the daughters wrote.
“Now, they are being treated as criminals, held in detention centres, and facing deportation. This cruel and unjust situation has shattered our family emotionally and financially. Every day they remain detained is another stolen from their family, community, and their home.”
They said their parents “are kind, selfless people who have always put others before themselves” and have asked for generous donations from the public.
‘Exhausted legal options to remain in the US’
An ICE representative verified the case’s specifics to The Independent, including the couple’s clean criminal record.
According to the agency, both entered the country in November 1989 near San Ysidro, California, and had “exhausted all legal options to remain in the US. "
Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez arrived in the US during a time of continuous terrorism and violence in Colombia, where the government was engaged in a two-front conflict with left-wing guerrillas and drug cartels, as per CNN.
Nelson applied for asylum in 1992, but his case was dropped in 1998 because he “failed to attend an interview,” according to ICE.
According to authorities, Gladys and Nelson received a voluntary departure order in 2000 after the immigration court determined that there was no valid basis for their continued stay in the nation. This order offers people a set period of time to leave the country at their own expense to avoid a deportation order.
“They were looking for a way to legalise their status in the way that was available to them at the time in the ’90s,” Monica Crooms, an immigration lawyer in Orange County who began representing the couple in 2018, told CNN. “Unfortunately, they fell victim to predatory immigration practices that were pretty flagrant.”
Crooms claims that the couple’s lawyer at the time misled them about the possibility of an appeal and eventual legalisation of the order.
“After seeing other attorneys, they quickly learnt that they were in a very precarious situation with respect to their immigration status,” Crooms added. Over the years, the couple have spent thousands of dollars on legal representation, and according to Crooms, some of the people they hired weren’t even immigration lawyers.
Gladys and Nelson “exhausted all legal options to remain in the US between March 2000 and August 2021, including reviews by the Board of Immigration Appeals in 2001 and 2018, Citizenship and Immigration Services in 2010, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in 2021,” ICE said in a statement.
Crooms said they “did expect that they would need to depart and were planning to do so, but not in the way that it happened,” adding that the couple’s deportation officer “had not pushed for them to depart until 2018,” informing them that they would have to leave the country if their status could not be legalised.
ICE refused to provide information on whether or not the Gonzalezes were allowed to stay after that.
However, in the past, a large number of undocumented immigrants who were facing deportation were permitted to stay as long as they fulfilled specific requirements and made frequent ICE check-ins.
This could be for health, humanitarian, or just being a low priority for removal.
Trump’s crackdown on immigration
The incident is yet another example of the Trump administration’s expansive immigration crackdown, which has allegedly targeted not only violent criminals but also undocumented immigrants with no criminal history, backpackers, visiting scholars , asylum seekers, pro-Palestinian activists with green cards , and permanent residents.
According to the case’s judge, officials have used a wartime statute from the 18th century to deport hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants to El Salvador without following the proper legal procedures, ostensibly in violation of a court order.
With inputs from agencies