© 2024 WYSO
Our Community. Our Nation. Our World.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Appeals Court Clears Way For Butler County Woman's Deportation

Maribel Trujillo Diaz with her husband and four children.
Provided
Maribel Trujillo Diaz with her husband and four children.

The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has cleared the way for a Butler County woman to be deported to Mexico. In an opinion issued Tuesday afternoon, a three judge panel dismissed a request for a stay on the deportation order for Maribel Trujillo Diaz.

The court decided that her request was moot and granted the U.S. Attorney General's request to dismiss because Trujillo Diaz's request was not made within 30 days of her final order of removal. The ruling says that order was handed down May 20, 2014.

Attorney Emily Brown with Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) says she's disappointed the court is denying the stay request:

Given that we have sought to reopen her asylum case due to new information about criminal gangs targeting her father and other family members in Mexico, it is wrong for ICE to deport her now while the merits of that case have not been ruled on. Deporting her in the next few days, as ICE apparently plans to do, denies her the due process to which everyone living in the United States is entitled under the Constitution. It also denies her opportunity to seek protection to which she is entitled under US immigration law.

ICE can still do the right thing and decide not to divide a mother from her four American children. We urge concerned members of the community to continue to speak out about this grave injustice and ask ICE to exercise its prosecutorial discretion to send Maribel back to her family.

As of Tuesday afternoon Trujillo Diaz was being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Louisiana and being prepared for deportation.

The mother of four was picked up unexpectedly last week despite completing regular check-ins with immigration officials.

According to federal authorities, she entered the United States illegally in 2002 and has used up all legal appeals. The Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which has been advocating on her behalf, says she can't return to Mexico for fear of being targeted by cartels.

Her advocates say she has no criminal history. The youngest of her four children, a three-year-old daughter, has seizures and requires special care.

Sen. Sherrod Brown said he personally called ICE asking the agency to reconsider her case. Sen. Rob Portman's office also said he was trying to "facilitate a solution." Sixth Circuit Court Ruling by WVXU News on Scribd

Copyright 2020 91.7 WVXU. To see more, visit 91.7 WVXU.

Tana Weingartner earned a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of Cincinnati and a master's degree in mass communication from Miami University. Most recently, she served as news and public affairs producer with WMUB-FM. Ms. Weingartner has earned numerous awards for her reporting, including several Best Reporter awards from the Associated Press and the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists, and a regional Murrow Award. She served on the Ohio Associated Press Broadcasters Board of Directors from 2007 - 2009.
Related Content