Gloria Garcia, a 42-year-old woman born in Mexico who has lived in the U.S. for two decades, has been blocked from returning to the U.S. for six months following a required green card interview at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, her family and attorney told NBC News.
Newsweek has reached out to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), the U.S. Embassy in Mexico, and Garcia’s lawyer, Fernando Romo, for comment via email on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
Garcia’s inability to return to the U.S. comes amid an immigration crackdown under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump pledged to launch the largest mass deportation operation in U.S. history, and immigrants residing in the country illegally and legally, with valid documentation including green cards and visas, have been detained.
Many in the process of applying for green cards have reported facing lengthy wait times and some people have been apprehended at various interviews. The administration has repeatedly asked that people without proper documentation to self-deport.
Millions of people are awaiting applications for their permanent residency paperwork. The Trump administration has announced that certain speech might cause green card applicants to face scrutiny, particularly students who have posted pro-Hamas beliefs or who have engaged in protests on college campuses where Jewish students are blocked from entering buildings.
What To Know
García, who is a mother of three U.S. citizen children, has lived in California for two decades, having left central Mexico in 2003 as a 19-year-old, according to NBC News.
She says she had to flee a violent relationship with her ex-husband, however there was an administrative error in her divorce that wasn’t resolved until she started the process of obtaining a green card in 2019 with an I-130 petition, according to NBC News.
She was then granted a temporary waiver application after and had an appointment at the consulate in Mexico, which is typical in the process. At the interview, the official asked to review the divorce paperwork, which was reportedly already approved by USCIS, according to NBC News. This has caused a delay in her process it is under further review by USCIS.
Garcia has been in Mexico since her March appointment, saying she has been unable to reenter the U.S.
What People Are Saying
Fernando Romo, Garcia’s lawyer told NBC News: “It’s incredibly frustrating for us. We can’t imagine how she feels, but that’s the system we live in, and it’s the system we were dealt.”
Kathia Quiros, an immigration attorney not related to the case, told NBC News: “Scrutiny is greater in some cases—there are some immigration officers who are reviewing everything the USCIS office does and are finding new reasons to deny cases.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a previous statement shared with Newsweek: “Under Secretary Noem, we are delivering on President Trump’s and the American people’s mandate to arrest and deport criminal illegal aliens to make America safe. Secretary Noem unleashed ICE to target the worst of the worst and carry out the largest deportation operation of criminal aliens in American history.”
What Happens Next
Garcia is currently in Tijuana, Mexico, over 100 miles away from where most of her family is living in Santa Ana, California. Her daughter, Isabella, who has an eye condition, is staying with her.
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