Deporting this law-abiding teen is not what this country voted for

She was four when her parents brought her to the United States, seeking a better life for their family. They settled in Georgia, where she attended public school, played sports and graduated from high school. After graduating, she began attending a local college. According to people in her community, she was also an active member in her church. A neighbor told reporters, “She has babysat for my kids for years. We adore her.”

In family photos, Ximena Arias-Cristobal, known to friends as “Mena,” has bright eyes and a youthful smile. She is indistinguishable from millions of other American teenagers. We suspect hers would be the last image that would come to mind when Americans imagine the deportation of illegal immigrants.

However, last week, a police officer in her hometown pulled her over for turning right during a red light. He discovered that she did not have a driver’s license and deduced she was most likely not in the United States legally. He arrested her. Later, she was transferred to ICE with chains around her hands and ankles despite the fact that she has no previous criminal record. She is scheduled to appear before an immigration judge next week in a deportation hearing.

The police department later determined, by reviewing the dashboard video, that Mena had, in fact, not turned right on red. After observing a similar model and color vehicle run a red light, the police officer, who was momentarily blocked by traffic, mistook Mena’s vehicle for the offending one. The prosecutor dropped the traffic charges against her but she remains in ICE custody.

In a post, DHS said that Mena admitted to entering the country illegally and had “no pending application with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services,” implying that was an option for her. That is about as disingenuous as it gets. Yes, she entered the country illegally when she was four years old, holding her parents' hands. The notion that somehow our legal system should hold a person responsible for a decision their parents made when they were four is revolting.

The statement also implies that she had some legal option to apply to legally reside in the U.S. This is absolutely not true. She does not qualify for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program because that program requires the applicant to have been in the U.S. since 2007, about three years before her parents brought her here. Nor would she qualify under any other program, such as a student visa.

Mena’s father, Jose Arias-Tovar, had been pulled over at a traffic stop a few days earlier and was also handed over to ICE for deportation. His family says he started a construction business after arriving in the United States. He also has no criminal history. At some point, he went to an attorney to see about obtaining legal status in the U.S. but was told there was no provision under which he would qualify.

The DHS statement also said, “Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. The family will be able to return to Mexico together.” The “family” includes Mena’s two younger sisters, both of whom are U.S. citizens. In a separate statement, DHS said, “the Trump Administration is giving parents illegally in the country a chance to take full control of their departure and self-deport, with the potential ability to return the legal, right way and come back to live the American dream.”

This, too, is extremely misleading and disingenuous. Since the family has been in the U.S. for more than one year, they would be barred from even applying to return to the U.S. for 10 years. The statements also perpetuate the widely held and erroneous belief that there are legal pathways available for anyone to come to the U.S.

In fact, legal admission to the United States is highly restricted to a few very specific paths. The most common is a petition by an immediate family member of a U.S. citizen. Other avenues relate to highly skilled workers or those who can buy entry by investing about a million dollars in the U.S. But even those programs are subject to very low worldwide limitations, resulting in fierce competition for them. For the average person in Mexico, like Tovar, who does not have an immediate family member living in the U.S., there is virtually no chance they can enter and stay long-term in the U.S. legally.

Over the four years of the Biden administration, Americans grew increasingly anxious about the chaos at the southern border and its collateral damage, especially spiraling fentanyl deaths. They were sickened when two Venezuelan men, who entered the U.S. illegally, viciously murdered and raped 12-year-old Houstonian Jocelyn Nungaray. Both had been apprehended by ICE but were released the same day they were captured.

By the time the election came around, the American people had had enough and voted in record numbers for Trump, even though many had reservations about doing so. The most frequently cited reasons by Trump voters for their vote were inflation and that they wanted someone to clean up the immigration mess.

Polling has always shown supermajorities favoring getting the border under control and deporting those who came here illegally. But that support is not unqualified. This Ipsos poll showed support for deportations flipped when asked if young people brought here as children should be deported, with two-thirds opposed. The same margin opposed deportations that would result in families being separated.

The sentiment in those polls is now being reflected in the small Georgia town where Mena grew up, an area that President Trump won by 44 points. Kasey Carpenter, the Republican state legislator that represents the area told reporters, “There’s been an uprising of heartbreak for our community, because, you know, a lot of people felt like we were going after the hard criminals, and unfortunately, good people are getting caught on the wash on this issue.” He wrote a letter to DHS vouching for Mena’s character, calling her “an asset” to the local community. Through a GoFundMe page, the community has raised over $85,000 for her legal expenses.

That is because there is a deep well of decency and fairness in the American people. They know that deporting a young person who has lived here their entire life and is here illegally through no fault of their own is fundamentally wrong. They know that it is fundamentally un-American.

It is also at odds with the teachings of every major faith tradition. We are both Christians, and our values are rooted in that faith. Our scripture repeatedly calls for humane treatment of those from another country. “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself…” (Leviticus 19:33-34).

Certainly, we need laws that regulate who can enter our country and specify the terms of their entry and stay. Certainly, criminals and gang members should be shown the door post haste. Our immigration laws and their administration should, first and foremost, represent the interests of the American people. But they should also represent our values.

Deporting Mena and her family represents neither our interests nor our values. And it is not what the American people voted for in the last election.

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