Immigration enforcement in Arizona splits family
PHOENIX (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - An Arizona mother was taken into custody by ICE and was separated from her three children under what she claims were false pretenses.
The woman's husband and in-laws have supported tougher border policies, but say they don't believe this is the way to do it.
Cindy Sullenger is a new grandma to three Honduran boys who now part of her family since Sullenger's son married the boys' mother, Rosa Hernandez, in May.
"I've gotten to know her very well. She's a remarkable woman and these are remarkable kids," Sullenger expressed.
Sullenger's son, Bryan Wilcox, a wildland firefighter, is at the Grand Canyon fighting a fire while battling another very formidable force: The justice system.
"She went from custody in the United States to custody in Mexico, and then was shipped off to Honduras without her kids," Wilcox shared.
On Friday, a judge told Cindy she could accompany the kids back on a flight to Honduras, but that would mean self-deportation, placing a restriction on whether the kids could ever come back to the U.S.
The family is weighing other options and have a new December court date, but for now, the kids stay and will likely start a new school year.
"I feel like it's been horrible, and I also feel like anything and almost everything that ICE has told us has not been the truth," Sullenger said.
The family separation is a consequence of the Trump Administration's aggressive immigration crackdown.
Monika Sud-Devaraj, a longtime immigration attorney, says 11,000 immigration cases involving non-criminals that were not considered priorities before President Donald Trump's inauguration are now back on Phoenix immigration court calendars.
"I hear this hardship every single day, and it, I mean, I'm just going to go on my soapbox for a minute. It's taking a toll on all us immigration practitioners to hear this every day about the families being separated," Sud-Devaraj spoke.
U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) also weighed in Friday, saying his office has been working with Hernandez and her family, that "ICE continues to make harsh and speedy decisions to remove people like Rosa who have a family and a life here and no criminal record."
Sullenger and her family are Republicans who voted for President Trump. Now, she says she has a different perspective.
"I honestly feel that people have been very hateful, especially the Republican side, and they don't have very many feelings towards these people that are actually humans, and it's been very said to see," Sullenger further expressed.
Last week, the president announced a softer position on some undocumented farm workers, saying they may be provided a pathway to stay.
"We're going to work it so that some kind of a temporary pass, where people pay taxes, where the farmer can have a little control," Trump said.
Hernandez's family says she was a babysitter for undocumented farm workers in the West Valley, playing an indirect role in an industry that even the president acknowledges relies heavily on undocumented workers.
