The mom arrested by ICE outside a South Philly school is now facing deportation

by Maddie Hanna and Jesenia De Moya Correa, Updated: 7 minutes ago


JOSE F. MORENO / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

The mother arrested by ICE agents outside a South Philadelphia school this month and then released by the agency for “humanitarian reasons” has been told she must leave the country within 45 days.

The agency confirmed Wednesday that Verónica del Carmen Lara Márquez, who was placed under monitoring after her Feb. 11 arrest, has been given 45 days to leave the United States. ICE, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, said it’s simply carrying out an immigration judge’s 2012 order to remove her.

Still, questions remain about the case. The agency did not disclose why Lara Márquez was targeted by agents eight years later, or provide her documentation related to the judge’s order.

In an interview this week, Lara Márquez, 32, who is three months pregnant, told The Inquirer she has lived a peaceful existence in Philadelphia after leaving El Salvador in 2011. She said she didn’t know about the deportation order — which ICE said was issued in absentia — until she was arrested by plainclothes agents after dropping off her 4-year-old daughter at Eliza B. Kirkbride Elementary.

ICE officials wouldn’t comment on whether Lara Márquez’s pregnancy could affect her deportation.

But her situation and the lack of information are not unique, said Philadelphia immigration attorney Ricky Palladino. “We get calls like this every single day,” he said.

https://www.inquirer.com/news/ice-im...-20200226.html