CINCINNATI — A Mexican mother of four U.S.-born children faced imminent deportation Tuesday after a federal appeals court refused to block her removal.
The Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals granted the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the appeal by Maribel Trujillo Diaz. The terse ruling by a three-judge panel says her bid for court intervention wasn’t timely, noting she had been subject to a final order of removal since 2014.
Immigration officials have contended Trujillo Diaz entered the United States illegally in 2002 and had exhausted her appeals.
“We’re obviously disappointed with the court’s ruling, but we still encourage ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to do the right thing and not separate this mom from her kids,” attorney Emily Brown said.
She said the woman was being moved Tuesday from Ohio to an immigration detention center in Louisiana in preparation for her removal.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has called for mercy, saying she has made positive contributions to her church and community in Butler County, just north of Cincinnati. Her attorneys say her family has been targeted by drug cartels in her homeland.
A spokeswoman for Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio said he has personally called immigration authorities urging them to reconsider the case of Trujillo Diaz. A spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio said his office is trying to help “facilitate a solution.”
The archdiocese has said deporting Trujillo Diaz wouldn’t serve the Trump administration’s immigration goals of public safety and removing criminal elements because she has no criminal history and cares for children ranging in age from 3 to 14, the youngest with special needs. It called the action to take her into custody last week “cruel and unacceptable.”
