A Natomas mother who has lived in this country for more than 25 years and has DACA status was deported suddenly last week. She and her daughter vow to fight it.<\/p>\n
SACRAMENTO, Calif. \u2014 A Natomas mother who has lived in this country for more than 25 years was deported suddenly last week. It happened while she was attending an appointment in the process of becoming a lawful permanent resident \u2013 also known as getting her green card<\/a>.<\/p>\n Maria de Jesus Estrada Juarez, 42, was born in Mexico came to the United States when she was 15.<\/p>\n She attended high school in the U.S. and eventually became a recipient of DACA – Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. That\u2019s a U.S. policy that defers \u201cremoval action against an individual for a certain period of time,\u201d with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noting\u00a0<\/a>that \u201cDeferred action does not provide lawful status.\u201d<\/p>\n Later, Estrada Juarez had her only child, Damaris Bello, who is now 22. The two live together in Natomas. They did, anyhow, until Feb. 18.<\/p>\n ABC10 spoke with both of them in a zoom interview Tuesday afternoon.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom has been a DACA recipient for many years now, that USCIS granted her,\u201d Bello said. \u201cSo we thought it’d be the time to do something, take the next step forward, pursue the American dream and just do things correctly.\u201d<\/p>\n USCIS allows<\/a> \u201ca U.S. citizen who is at least 21 years old\u201d to sponsor an immediate family member for lawful permanent resident status. So once Bello, a citizen, turned 21 last year, the mother-daughter pair started that process.<\/p>\n She was granted a green card interview on Feb. 18 of this year, the two said, at the John Moss Federal Building in downtown Sacramento.<\/p>\n \u201cDid her hair, did her makeup,\u201d Bello said.<\/p>\n Estrada Juarez \u2013 a regional manager for a major motel chain \u2013 brought with her a binder of documents, from tax and employment records to proof of vaccinations. Joined by her daughter, the pair thought they were entering a routine appointment. The interview went well, they said, but then a federal agent approached them.<\/p>\n \u201cThey ask for Maria Estrada. I said, \u2018Yes, that’s me,\u2019\u201d Estrada Juarez recalled, saying the federal agent then told her to \u201c\u2018Stand up, turn around, put your hands behind your back. You’re being deported because you have an immediate deportation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt seemed like we walked in and she never had a chance,\u201d Bello said. \u201cIt felt like we just walked into a trap.\u201d<\/p>\n Estrada Juarez said federal agents with no identification or marked uniforms cuffed her feet and hands, \u201clike I was the most wanted criminal in the whole United States. I never felt so humiliated,\u201d she said emotionally.<\/p>\n Agents cited a removal order from 1998, \u00a0when Estrada Juarez was a 15-year-old crossing the border. During her first attempt at crossing, she said, a federal agent detained and questioned her, then let her go. She successfully crossed the border days later.<\/p>\n Never in the process of applying for and receiving DACA status – or renewing it several times, Estrada Juarez said – has she heard about any kind of removal order.<\/p>\n The federal government even granted her parole in 2014 to visit a sick family member in Mexico, she said.<\/p>\n Plus, \u201cI have no criminal record whatsoever,\u201d she told ABC10.<\/p>\n When her attorney arrived at the federal building and requested documentation, Estrada Juarez said she was denied. Within less than 24 hours of arriving for her interview – \u00a0without any kind of hearing, she said – Estrada Juarez was deported to Mexico.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so scary because it felt like they were kidnapping my mom,\u201d Bello said.<\/p>\n ABC10 spoke with the two from Mexico. Bello came to stay with her mom this past weekend \u2013 at a family member\u2019s house – as they figure out their next legal steps.<\/p>\n