When Rosa García entered the doors of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Atlanta, she was uncertain whether she would exit those same doors and be able to hug her children once again.
García, a Honduran native, was heading to a routine appointment with immigration authorities. According to her lawyer, it was probable that on this occasion, officials would arrest and deport her.
Two of García’s children, Wilmer, 17, and Selena, 14, waited outside. They constantly looked toward the building’s doors to see whether García would come out or if she would be arrested.
“I didn’t sleep. All I could think was: what if we go tomorrow and they leave my mother there. What am I going to do with all my siblings who are going to miss her?” said Wilmer Danilo Guzmán, the oldest of García’s six children.
According to García, immigration authorities denied her request for protection against deportation. It is a status that she has held for the past year, due to one of her children being diagnosed with cancer. Because of her son’s medical condition, García was granted deferred action for humanitarian reasons.
García’s son’s health improved, however, and an ICE agent determined that the time had come for García to return to Honduras.
“I have to go… but in November,” she explained, choking back tears.
García was previously deported in 2007, but she returned, as her six children were still living in the United States. García feared they would fall under the custody of the state’s Division of Family and Children Service.
Since then, García has provided for her family through her job as a house painter. She also works with her husband at the church they attend in Norcross.
In 2017, however, García was detained by police for driving without a license, and she found herself once again at the mercy of immigration authorities.
“I was in jail for 17 days,” she said.
At that time, however, a judge permitted García to stay in the country under protection of deferred action for humanitarian reasons, due to her child’s cancer diagnosis.
For García, Georgia became like a second home. A place to put down roots with her family. “I have six children, yes, but the government doesn’t provide for them, nor do I ask for their support. My husband works very hard to provide for our family, and that’s how we’ve done things ever since we arrived here,” assured García.
Bryan Cox, a spokesman for ICE said he could not provide specific information about her case, since García was not under arrest.
“According to our privacy policies, we cannot analyze an individual’s immigration record. But in general, a person who is not under custody would not face an imminent deportation,” said Cox.
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