Pastor’s Wife Deported After 30 Years in U.S. as Family and Officials Clash Over Her Legal Status

After almost three decades in the United States, a mother and pastor’s wife from Mexico has been deported, according to her family.

Last week, Daniella Isidro announced on Facebook that her mom, Maria Isidro, had been transported back to Mexico from her home in Live Oak, Fla.

Maria first arrived in the U.S. in 1998 to seek medical care for one of her kids, according to multiple news reports — and though she had been subject to a removal order at one point, that was repeatedly paused at the discretion of government officials while Maria sought legal status to stay in the country.

Now however, amid the federal government’s sweeping campaign to deport immigrants they say shouldn’t be in the U.S., Maria’s family is speaking out to defend her after she was detained and removed.

“She was also shackled by wrist, stomach and ankles, leaving bruises on her,” Daniella wrote on Facebook. “This is a [woman] who is loved by a huge community, a pastor’s wife, a nana, a wita and our mom.”

Daniella told ABC affiliate WCJB that her mom, who lives in Florida with her family, had gone to court for an update on her immigration case only to then be held in a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center for more than a week.

Her family said they are especially concerned because Maria is a diabetic and allegedly doesn’t have her medications.

The Isidro family, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and ICE did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

After Maria was detained by ICE, her daughters received a call on Wednesday, June 11, that she had been sent from a detention center in Texas to Mexico, WCJB reported. 

“I had gone to work that day, and receiving the phone call that my mom had been detained was one of the hardest things I had to do,” Daniella told the outlet. 

While her family is trying to raise public awareness about what they allege is unlawful treatment, Maria is concerned about her kids.

“She just keeps telling us to be strong, and I think now more than ever, I want to be stronger for her,” Daniella told WCJB.

After Maria first arrived in the U.S., Daniella wrote in a Facebook post, she followed legal procedure to remain in the country. 

In an interview with CBS affiliate WCTV, the family said they worked for years to get Maria’s citizenship processed and that she met with DHS consistently to avoid deportation.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Maria received a removal order in 2004 but was approved for a “stay of deportation” ever since — a decision that is ultimately discretionary and can be revoked.

In 2023, Maria was approved for an I-130, also known as a petition for alien relative, in order to help her secure legal status, according to the Democrat.

But then Maria received notice to meet with the agency early and was detained on June 3.

She was transferred three times in the U.S. before arriving in Mexico, WCTV reported.

The experience was a harrowing one, she told the Democrat. After the 15-hour trip from Florida to Matamoros, a border town in the state of Tamaulipas, she said immigration officers threw a mesh bag with her belongings at her feet.

“I started to cry,” she told the outlet, adding that her “whole life” was in Florida.

On the flight, which also included pregnant women, detainees were only allowed to use the bathroom once, had little food or water, and remained shackled, Maria told the paper.

She said she’s fearful for the others who were also deported.

“I would watch the news, and I would say ‘How could that happen?’ But I lived it,” Maria told the Democrat. “The people who were with me weren’t criminals. They weren’t people who hurt others.”

When she was dropped off in Mexico, officials refused to take her to a judge or other authorities where she could plead her case, telling her, “That’s not our job,” according to the outlet.

“She’s just being treated as though she’s not a human, as though she is a part of a statement, and that’s not the case,” a family friend, Logan Hurst, told WCJB. “This is a person with a family and a community who loves her.”

Rep. Kat Cammack’s office told WCJB that they have an active case open with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Maria’s behalf but were unable to share specifics.

The Republican congresswoman did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment but said in a statement to The Florida Times-Union that “for far too long, our system has been broken. President Trump’s commitment to America was to fix this dysfunction by securing our borders and deporting criminals, drug traffickers, and those who seek to exploit our laws.”

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“Please know that we are in communication with the appropriate federal agencies and will continue working to ensure that every case receives a fair, thorough, and timely review,” Cammack said.

On Wednesday, the day Maria’s family learned she’d been more than 1,500 miles away, her son, Jo, wrote a statement on Facebook about his feelings. For the first time in his life, he said he couldn’t celebrate his birthday because his mom was missing.

“She wasn’t taken by illness. She didn’t leave by choice,” Jo wrote of Maria’s detainment over her immigration status. “My mother is a Christian woman. A preacher’s wife. A caregiver. A woman with no criminal record, who’s always done things the right way. She showed up to every appointment. She trusted the system. And still, she was taken from us.”