Vegas Mother of 3 Gets Last-Minute Reprieve from Deportation

Suzanne Potter, Public News Service – NV

LAS VEGAS — As the ICE raids continue around the country, immigrants’ rights groups are calling for mercy in the case of a Las Vegas mother of three who was set to be deported today, and just got a temporary reprieve.

ICE arrested Adriana Arellano Cruz in Las Vegas on Thursday, even though her only crimes were some traffic violations and working on an expired visa. On Monday, a judge granted a temporary stay of the removal order, and her attorney is fighting for her release.

Her 16-year-old daughter Kimberly said she’ll have nowhere to go if her mom is deported.

“I say my mom should stay because she’s not a criminal and she has three kids here that have, like, we have no parents,” the young woman said. “It’s just my mom with us. We have no family here. So my mom is all we got. “

Arellano’s three children, ages 21, 16 and 12, are American citizens. They pleaded her case alongside immigration advocates on Monday when news came of the temporary stay, and they are hoping ICE will release her and grant her case a new hearing.

The president has vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants, and ICE raids are ongoing.

Erika Castro with the Nevada Immigrant Coalition said the administration’s policies are ripping families and local communities apart.

“It’s really important that people understand that what’s happening around family separation isn’t only happening at the border, it’s happening within our country and it’s happening in our state,” Castro said.

The coalition has organized a phone bank to flood immigration authorities with pleas to stop deporting undocumented people who have not been accused of a serious crime.