A University of Maryland freshman who graduated at the top of her high school class last spring is being held in immigration custody in Louisiana with her mother, after the two attended a routine immigration check-in in Baltimore last week and never came home. Maria Flores Garcia, 19, a public health major studying on a full scholarship, was detained with her mother Mirna by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers at the appointment, according to Prince George's County Executive Aisha Braveboy, who disclosed the detention in a statement on Monday night.
Source: The Diamondback
Flores Garcia graduated as valedictorian of Parkdale High School in Prince George's County this spring, less than six months ago. She came to the United States from El Salvador at the age of nine, according to NBC4 Washington and WBAL-TV, and had recently begun her freshman year at the University of Maryland with plans, in the words of her supporters, to become a doctor. In her valedictorian speech she told classmates that dreams don't have limits or borders — a line friends have repeated all week as her case has drawn national attention.
Source: The Baltimore Banner
A 30-minute appointment that ended in custody
According to Flores Garcia's boyfriend, Cesar Saavedra, the two women drove to Baltimore last Thursday for an annual immigration check-in — the once-a-year appointment ICE requires of many noncitizens in removal proceedings. In the past, Saavedra said, the appointment has taken about 30 minutes. This time, he told NBC4 Washington and The Baltimore Banner, officers asked Flores Garcia whether she wanted to remain with her mother or leave. She chose to stay with her mother, and within minutes both were taken into ICE custody. They have since been transported to an ICE facility in Louisiana, more than 1,000 miles from their Prince George's County home.
Saavedra has set up a fundraising page to pay for legal representation and to help the family stay in contact with the two women. The pair are being represented by immigration lawyers from Murray Osorio PLLC, according to The Baltimore Banner. The University of Maryland confirmed the detention in a statement to its student newspaper, The Diamondback, on Tuesday: the university said it is aware one of its students was taken into custody off campus by immigration enforcement officials last week, that its thoughts are with the student and her family and friends, and that it is working to provide resources where possible and appropriate.
What the government says: a final removal order from 2021
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) says the case turns on paperwork that is more than five years old. A DHS spokesperson told reporters that Flores Garcia entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and place, was arrested in Texas's Rio Grande Valley in December 2016, was placed in removal proceedings and was released. The spokesperson said she and her mother were issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in February 2021, and that she will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the United States. Under section 241 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, a person with a final removal order can be detained while the government carries out that order.
Source: FOX 5 DC via Immigration Analytics
Several facts that could shape the legal fight have not been released: whether the February 2021 removal order was entered after a hearing or in the family's absence, whether it was ever appealed, and what separate applications, if any, were filed. ICE did not respond to questions from NBC4 Washington or The Baltimore Banner beyond the DHS statement.
Lawmakers push back
The detention has drawn an unusually fast and public response from Maryland's elected leaders. County Executive Braveboy said the news 'outraged' and 'deeply concerned' her, noting that Flores Garcia attends the university on a full scholarship. Congressman Steny Hoyer, whose district includes the university area, called the detention 'an infuriating reminder' of a hard-line immigration agenda, describing Flores Garcia as a promising student, her high school's valedictorian and an aspiring emergency-room doctor who arrived at nine years old as a refugee from a country made unsafe by gang violence. Representative Glenn Ivey told CNN on Wednesday that his office has been in contact with Saavedra to help, and Maryland lawmakers have vowed to press ICE for the pair's release.
Source: Congressman Steny Hoyer
Why this case reaches far beyond one family
The case sits inside a nationwide enforcement picture that has not slowed since the midterm elections. The Associated Press reported on November 11 that immigration arrests are continuing across the country — at check-ins, airports, workplaces and courthouses — and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said deportations will continue. For immigrant families in Maryland and across the United States, including the large Punjabi and South Asian communities whose relatives study, work and attend similar appointments, the lesson lawyers draw from this case is stark: a final removal order, even an old one, can be executed at any routine appointment, and showing up faithfully for years of check-ins does not by itself protect against arrest once the government decides to act on the order.
What happens next
Flores Garcia and her mother remain in ICE custody in Louisiana while their lawyers and Maryland's congressional delegation press their case. Any legal challenge will have to confront the February 2021 final order — through a motion to reopen, a request for a stay of removal, or congressional intervention — because until a court or ICE itself pauses that order, the government says the detention and removal can proceed. The university says it will continue to offer support and resources to the student and her family. Awaaz Punjab will update this report as the family's lawyers, DHS and the lawmakers involved release new information.