(cache) Despite pardon from Virginia governor, undocumented mom of two U.S. citizens deported

Despite pardon from Virginia governor, undocumented mom of two U.S. citizens deported

Wednesday Jun 21, 2017 · 11:26 AM PDT

2017/06/21 · 11:26

Rene Bermudez (R) wipes away tears as he holds his 4-year-old daughter Danyca (L) during a protest on behalf of his wife Liliana Cruz Mendez, a Virginia immigrant and mother of two with no criminal record that was detained during a regularly scheduled check-in last week by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in front of ICE Headquarters in Washington, DC, May 23, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / JIM WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images) — Liliana Cruz Mendez's husband Rene weeps during a rally in her support

Despite ongoing pressure from Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner, Rep. Don Beyer, and countless other leaders and advocates in the state, federal immigration officials have deported Liliana Cruz Mendez to El Salvador, nearly one month after the mom of two U.S. citizen children was arrested during her routine check-in with ICE:

Cruz Mendez’s husband, Rene Bermudez, said the family was shattered by the deportation. He sobbed as he recounted how their children, aged 10 and 4, wept when they heard Cruz Mendez was gone.

“How can they take away their mother?” he said.

In 2013, Mendez was convicted of driving without a license (Virginia does not allow undocumented immigrants to apply for driver’s licenses in the first place). But because Donald Trump is redefining “criminal” in order to justify rounding up as many undocumented immigrants as possible, she was swept up by his deportation force despite having nothing else on her record.

Advocates rallied to her cause as Gov. McAuliffe, in a last-ditch effort, pardoned her conviction “in hopes that it would spare her from having to leave the country,” tweeting that “taking Liliana away from her kids and husband won’t make VA safer. Feds need to focus on public safety threats and real immigration reform.” Federal immigration thugs kicked her out anyway.

Because Mendez’s husband Rene cannot leave the country due to the fact that he is in the process of gaining legal status himself, she will most likely not be able to see her two young children for some time. Unable to even give their detained loved ones a hug goodbye, some U.S. citizens and permanent residents have traveled to other nations to briefly reunite with their deported family members:

[Rene] and his son and daughter last saw Cruz Mendez through a window at the immigration detention center.

“People don’t understand because they haven’t lived it. But believe me,” he said, his voice faltering, “I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.”

But this kind of suffering is exactly what the Trump White House is wishing on immigrant families everywhere. Donald Trump promised a deportation force and tragically, it’s one of the few promises he’s been able to keep so far.

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