A little more than a week ago, a 36-year-old woman I’ll call Sonia Rivera answered a knock on the door of her downtown San Diego apartment. Agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Rivera they were searching for a Mexican man suspected of criminal activity, who an informant had told them could be found at their address. After failing to find the subject of their search – Rivera insists she does not even know the man – the ICE agents asked Rivera to provide documents proving her legal residence in the United States. Unable to do so, Rivera was taken into custody, along with her three sons. The next day Sonia Rivera and her two teenage sons were deported to Mexico. Her youngest son, an 8-year-old U.S. citizen, was released into the custody of relatives residing permanently (and legally) here in San Diego. Another “mixed-status” family had been torn apart by the deportation of its undocumented members. Sonia Rivera and her family were victims of what Immigration
Life & Death, Faith & Doubt, Here & There