Rosemount woman from Mexico faces deportation, attorney says
Rosemount woman detained over green card
A Rosemount woman from Mexico is in ICE custody after agents detained her at a green card interview in Minneapolis, despite her attorney saying the woman came to the U.S. decades ago and has documentation to prove it. FOX 9’s Mike Manzoni explains.
(FOX 9) - A Rosemount woman from Mexico faces deportation after she was detained at her green card interview in Minneapolis on Wednesday, her attorney said.
Rosemount woman likely to be deported to Mexico: attorney
The backstory:
Macias-Pulido crossed the border in 1998 with her then-2-year-old daughter. She told authorities that she was a U.S. citizen, when she was not.
That lie led to a deportation order, but Macias-Pulido eventually received a work permit, a Social Security number and applied for a green card to stay here permanently.
However, when she went to an interview for her green card in Minneapolis on Wednesday, immigration authorities detained her, according to her attorney.
Why she was detained:
Even though Macias-Pulido had documentation, the fact that she lied to border officials when she crossed nearly three decades ago made her ineligible for a green card. In essence, since she was ineligible to apply for permanent residency, she was not in the country legally, her attorney said.
Detained woman’s son explains why she lied at border
What they're saying:
"She said she was a citizen, but she wasn’t. And the reason why she did that at that time was because my sister was 2 years old," said Angel Silva, her son. "They were by themselves – them two – and they were crossing the border and only my sister went through, and my mom didn’t know where my sister was. She couldn’t cross the border. So, my mom, out of desperation to find her daughter, hired some coyotes that were able to help her cross the border."
Her attorney, Evangeline Dhawan-Maloney, said it is unclear whether Macias-Pulido forgot what she told authorities in 1998.
"It’s very possible that she may not have remembered exactly what she said," she explained. "It’s possible that it’s been 30 years – she thought, ‘Okay, maybe I gave them a name.’" She said Macias-Pulido also gave authorities an alias.
Dhawan-Maloney said that although her client is not eligible for a green card, her situation would likely have played out differently in the past.
"Would she have been detained at the interview on Wednesday under a previous administration? No, probably not," Dhawan-Maloney said.
The other side:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.