Last night, Rachel Maddow featured a story that has gained national attention for its senselessness and straight-up cruelty: the imminent deportation of Maribel Trujillo, an Ohio mom. Despite the fact that she has no criminal record, works and pays her taxes, and has four U.S. citizen kids — including a toddler with special medical needs — Maribel was snatched off the street by ICE and could be deported Wednesday.
As immigrant rights advocates have noted, “Maribel’s case is just one of the heartbreaking stories from across the country that show that the Trump Administration is not prioritizing so-called ‘bad hombres,’ as Trump claimed and AG Sessions would have you believe. Instead, ICE and CBP are going after whomever they please, however they please and are seeking to detain and deport virtually anyone they encounter.”
Maddow noted last night that the Trump administration’s unmerciful pursuit of hardworking immigrant moms and dads who have lived in the U.S. for years and have U.S. citizen kids also debunks any sort of claim that he is in any way softening, despite his recent Trumpcare and Muslim ban failures:
“You see these all headlines today about how the Trump administration is going soft on all their most controversial policy proposals. How they’re flip-flopping and abandoning all the hardline things. They are not. Not at least when it comes to real people, real regular families.”
Real people like Maribel. And Guadalupe. And Maria.
Maribel’s advocates are continuing to pressure elected leaders and federal officials until every avenue is exhausted, including calling DHS Sec. John Kelly (you can leave your own message demanding Maribel’s release at 202-282-8203, or tweet him at @DHSGov). Other advocates and mothers in the state have been targeting Ivanka Trump with the #FreeMaribel and #WomenWhoWork hashtags. There’s certainly been a media attempt to frame her as a voice of reason in the administration. Here’s her chance.
Immigration officials are now actively debating whether Maribel’s youngest child should go with her, because Maribel has been trained in caring for her medical needs. That means ICE could also shamefully deport a U.S. citizen. About Maribel’s case, Gov. John Kasich commented that “we have enough broken families in the country,” but then added that “there’s nothing I can do about it. In case you didn’t know, I’m not president.” But ordinary citizens without his power have been able to stop deportations before. And in Maribel’s case, they certainly aren’t giving up.