‘They took my chance at seeing her’
After arrest, ICE deports mother to Colombia; son stays under DACA rule
Immigration agents have deported a Las Cruces woman who, along with her oldest son, was arrested by federal officers last month after both had avoided a deportation order from 15 years ago.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week deported Francia Elena Benitez-Castaño, 54, to her native Colombia, according to Las Cruces-based New Mexico Comunidades en Acción y de Fé, an advocacy group.
Castaño was arrested May 9 by ICE agents while on her way to her work. About 10 minutes later, her son Jefferson Taborda, 24, was also arrested. Federal orders to deport both of them were issued 15 years ago when their request for asylum was rejected by the U.S. government.
The advocacy group said Castaño was deported without letting her lawyer know, depriving her children of a last chance to visit her at the detention center.
“I feel disappointed, not by the decision alone, but mostly because of the secrecy of their decision and not notifying us, not allowing us to properly say our goodbyes to her,” Taborda said. “They took my chance at seeing her before she left.”
A regional ICE spokeswoman didn’t respond to an email request for comment.
Taborda, featured in a story last month in The New Mexican, said he only learned that he was living in the country illegally the same day he was arrested. ICE agents released him from a detention center in El Paso after his lawyer notified them that Taborda qualified for an Obama administration program that shields young immigrants from deportation.
Known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the program was enacted by then-President Barack Obama in 2012 and has so far been left intact by President Donald Trump. Taborda applied for this protection while he was in the detention center. If he is approved by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, he will receive a two-year renewable work permit and a Social Security number.
Since the arrests, Our Lady of Health Church in Las Cruces has held rallies to bring awareness to the family’s case. With her deportation, Castaño left behind a 15-year-old son, Steven Taborda. He is a U.S. citizen.
“It breaks my heart to see Steven separated from his mom because every child needs their mother,” said Maria Corrales, a parishioner at Our Lady of Health. “I am disgusted and disappointed about how our immigration system separates families.”
Steven remains in Las Cruces and is being cared for by friends of his family.