let me guess the lawyer could not reach her about the court date!
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - A pregnant mother of five faces deportation to Guatemala.
Thirty-three-year-old Lilian Cardona-Perez arrived in the U.S. at age 15 and received a valid work permit, which she renewed every year.
According to her attorney, she has always worked legally.
Cardona-Perez's attorney, Yesenia L. Polanco-Galdamez, told Fox News that her client has never been arrested and has no criminal record. But she did have one brush with the law in 2010.
"She was detained in 2010 for a criminal charge that was later dismissed. She was detained in Raleigh and under the 287g program was immediately screened by ICE and placed in removal proceedings," Polanco-Galdamez said.
"She was released by ICE on her own recognizance. She failed to appear at her first immigration court date and the immigration judge ordered her removed in [absentia]."
Polanco-Galdamez claims Cardona-Perez's never received the letter immigration officials sent and that she found out she was being deported when she went to renew her paperwork.
The lawyer, immigration advocates and civil groups such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) say the detention was unwarranted.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not respond to a request for comment on the case.
Cardona-Perez's lawyer argues that President Trump's immigration executive order targets immigrants who commit crimes or live in the United States illegally, but neither of those are her client's case.
Cardona-Perez's work permit is valid through October 2017, her lawyer said.
She said she is exploring her Cardona-Perez's eligibility for a U visa, which is given to people who have suffered physical or mental abuse. In addition, the lawyer told Fox News, she is looking into a crime committed against her client in Guatemala to see if she qualifies for a potential Withholding of Removal and also Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
Cardona-Perez's hearing with Charlotte U.S. Immigration officials is scheduled for Thursday, March 16 and she could be sent back to Guatemala if her hearing is denied.
article...