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SALT LAKE CITY — When Maria Santiago Garcia came to Utah in 2003, she hoped to never go back to the violence she knew in her native Guatemala. Unfortunately, that may soon become her reality after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) notified her that she is facing deportation.
“I am an orphan and fled my foster home when I was 9 years old because I was abused,” she said to a crowd of nearly two dozen supporters on the Utah Capitol steps Thursday night. “I don’t have family there I can go back to.”
In her 14 years in the U.S., Garcia had four children — ranging from ages 3 to 11 — and makes a living selling traditional Latin American foods.
"I feel like I am a part of this country,” she said. “And I feel my children are secure and protected here too."
Her lawyer, Gage Herbst, said Garcia is an outstanding member of the community with no criminal history. He explained Garcia was able to come to the U.S. legally under humanitarian parole since she was running from violence in her home country.
“In her situation, she was running for her life,” Herbst said. “She took steps to seek asylum, but like so many cases, that can take years.”
Garcia was given a hearing date but did not receive the notification, which led her to miss the hearing, Herbst said.
"The court will mail a notice of hearing to an individual that's not certified mail and if that doesn't arrive at their house, they don't know about their hearing,” he said. “Therefore, they can't show up and they're ordered to be removed from the country."
Herbst said she was able to plead her case and was granted a stay of removal, but that all changed in 2013 when ICE was notified of her case.
“While she was protected under what's called a stay of removal, she is unlikely to have that in the future and is actually at very serious risk of being removed,” he said.
Garcia hopes her plea to stay in the country with her four children will cause ICE officials to reconsider.
“All I ask is that they let me stay here with my kids at least until they are able to go to college and realize their dreams,” she said. “Because that's really all I want."
Garcia is in the process of applying for another stay of removal to allow her to stay in the country, but her future in the U.S. remains uncertain.
