A routine traffic citation caused Beatriz Morelos Casillas’ last 17 years of life to go up in smoke. Beatriz, who goes by Betty, is the wife of work visa proprietor, David Morelos, and mother of four children born in the United States.
She did not commit any crimes besides being undocumented and doesn’t have a record. Betty worked in a factory and paid her taxes.
Donald Trump’s idea of what an immigrant ‘threat’ or ‘felon’ is will continue to spread. Custom police practices and any other form of encounters with law enforcement many times end up with the deportation of thousands of working husbands and housewives.
After getting pulled over by an Ohio Highway Patrol officer, Casillas’ prior unsuccessful attempt at crossing the border without papers was brought to light, making her qualify for an “expedited removal” without access to courts or lawyers. In 9 days, Betty was taken back to a country which after all those years seemed almost foreign, carrying only the jeans and the shirt on her back.
Explaining her sudden absence to her children was hard on both the husband and wife. She was first held in a local jail and then a county one, before being flown to Laredo, Texas and walked across the bridge to violent Nuevo Laredo, where the risk of being carjacked, kidnapped, robbed and killed run high.
At least two deportees have been kidnapped upon their return to the city. She’s only been able to see her husband once after he flew to Mexico for a brief visit following her deportation and has not seen her children since July.
Casillas has missed birthdays, confirmations, and Thanksgiving. A day doesn’t go by where Betty does not long to see her family, with whom legal means of reuniting are no longer available.
Barack Obama-era immigration focused on recent arrivals, violent criminals, and national security threats is long gone. Anyone without the right paperwork is susceptible to have their lives completely uprooted and turned over.
The Acting Director of ICE, Thomas Homan states that undocumented immigrants “should be uncomfortable” and “should be afraid.” He says, “There is absolutely no compassion at this point, there are basically no priorities for deportation. Everyone is a priority. ICE is literally splitting up families, which is a tragedy.”
The most stressful part of the whole ordeal is how there is nothing immigrants like Casillas can do to correct their status. Rallies and protests demanding the introduction of some form of legal action permitting the legalization of long-term immigrant dwellers with no crime-records are taking place, but are widely ignored.
“We thought Painesville was calm before,” Casillas’ husband says. “In one year, it has become more difficult to go out, trusting nothing will happen.”
This article was inspired by NBC NEWS // ‘I miss everything’: Ohio mom deported to Mexico yearns for her family