“Norma” has spent the last six years attending ICE check-ins and immigration court hearings. After Wednesday’s check-in, she left with an ankle monitor.
SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio mother of five who fled domestic violence in Honduras is fighting to remain in the U.S. so her 10-year-old can continue receiving life-saving cancer treatment.
The woman, KENS 5 is calling Norma, didn’t wish to be identified by her real name for her family’s safety in the event they’re deported.
“He (husband) would hit me in front of my kids. I was escaping him killing me,” Norma said.
In 2019, Norma came to the U.S. and surrendered herself to Border Patrol with hopes of beginning the asylum process.
Her 10-year-old son was diagnosed with T-Cell Lymphoblastic Lymphoma after arriving in the States. One of her biggest concerns is what will happen if she ends up deported and unable to provide for her son who receives treatment at Christus Health in San Antonio. She’s not confident in the health care system in her home country.
Her other children are ages 19, 17, 3 and 11-months-old.
The 3-year-old and 11-month-old are U.S. citizens.
Immigration attorney Jonathan Ryan has been representing Norma since May.
“Deportation for this family means death,” Ryan said.
He’s the founder of Advokato, a nonprofit dedicated to representing unaccompanied minor children.
“No one should look away when they see these people just trying to live a better life, trying to be safe,” Ryan said. “We have a young child with cancer who should be focused on only one thing and that is getting better. He should not be worrying, crying himself to sleep at night about whether his mother is going to be taken away from him.”
In an interview with CBS News, the current head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said agents will arrest anyone who’s in the country illegally, even if they don’t have a criminal record.
President Donald Trump has pushed the agency to conduct 3,000 daily arrests while resources in terms of personnel are limited, although efforts may be sped up with the recently approved aid of tens of billions of dollars from Congress.
Data obtained by CBS News indicates ICE has recorded 150,000 deportations in Trump’s first six months in office.
In San Antonio, plain clothed ICE personnel have detained migrants leaving their court hearings.
Immigration rights advocates have called federal law enforcement’s tactics predatory and inhumane.
“We’ve been hearing about criminals and threats to national security. But when the goal is to deport millions and millions of people, what happens is families get separated,” Ryan said
Ryan said Norma has been on the right side of the law to seek asylum by attending scheduled hearings and ICE check-ins over the past six years.
On Wednesday, Ryan said Norma attended one of her ICE appointments on the north east side of San Antonio. She left with an ankle monitor.
Even under the shadow of mass detentions, Norma and thousands of other migrants are taking the risk to follow the process to become U.S. citizens, knowing that it’s possible they could be detained and deported.
“It’s a real testament to her character, to how much she believes in following the law, that she is willing to risk detention, being separated from her children to keep on the right side of the law.”