A pregnant mother of two detained by ICE is one step closer to deportation

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. - A pregnant woman who was being held at the Bergen County jail was transferred Tuesday to Louisiana by immigration officers — the first step toward deportation. The move came hours before the Board of Immigration Appeals denied an emergency request for a stay of her deportation.

Alma Centeno-Santiago, an immigrant from Guatemala and mother of two U.S. citizen children, was arrested at a Queens courthouse in April by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and transferred to the Bergen County jail. She was there until Tuesday, when her family and attorneys found out she had been moved to Louisiana.

Her attorney, Jodi Ziesemer, of the New York Legal Assistance Group, said in a statement that they will continue to fight for Centeno-Santiago's "right to be heard in immigration court and her right to remain with her children.”

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Ziesemer said a team of lawyers was in the Southern District Court of New York on Tuesday to prevent ICE from deporting Centeno-Santiago on Wednesday.

“Alma’s case illustrates the heartless nature of new ICE policies to detain pregnant women and deport them away from their families,'' she added.

Jennifer Pacheco, Centeno-Santiago's friend, said she and the family remain hopeful, but also worried for her future.

"We are anxious, we are scared, we are nervous and we are hoping for a miracle,'' said Pacheco. "She is a hardworking woman, she takes care of her kids and she deserves to be here, her children are here...she doesn't have a life in Guatemala.'"

Centeno-Santiago remains in custody pending removal from the U.S., according to ICE.

She was arrested by immigration officers in April on an order of removal that had been issued to her in December 2004, months after she entered the country without proper documentation.

Ziesemer said Centeno-Santiago was in court litigating an order of protection between her and her partner on April 12, when she was picked up by ICE while exiting the courthouse.

She said her unexpected detainment has been traumatic for Centeno-Santiago's family, which includes an 11-year old daughter and 3-year old son, both being cared for by Centeno-Santiago's mother.

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"They are really distraught, and they visit her in jail, and they are terrified, really terrorized that their mother is going to be deported,'' she said.

Rachael Yong-Yow, a spokeswoman for ICE's New York office, said that Centeno-Santiago has two convictions in the United States stemming from arrests in September 2018 and April 2019. She said an immigration detainer was lodged with local authorities at the time of both arrests, but local law enforcement did not honor the detainer and released her on both occasions without notifying ICE.

Centeno-Santiago pled guilty to two disorderly conduct violations, which in the state of New York are not considered a crime, according to information provided to NorthJersey.com by the Queens County Criminal Court.

Arrived in 2004 fleeing violence

Centeno-Santiago was 18 years old when she arrived in the United States, fleeing violence, as well as attacks on her family and herself, Ziesemer said.

After crossing the border, Centeno-Santiago was apprehended and then released so she could make a claim for asylum, Ziesemer said. She traveled to New York to live with her brother and later had two children. She has worked at a bakery for years.

"She held the same job for a decade, she's a real member of her community, participates in her kid's school,'' she said.

Centeno-Santiago was given a court hearing in 2004 in Texas, but she claims she never received the hearing notice so she didn't show up, which led the court to issue a removal order against her, Ziesemer said.

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Ziesemer said that Centeno-Santiago found out she was pregnant while detained, and claims her client has been treated poorly in detention. She said Centeno-Santiago saw an obstetrician-gynecologist for the first time only last week.

"She has not been given certain meals, she has been denied medical care, and she said yesterday they weren't even giving her water,'' said Ziesemer. "She is three months pregnant and has been having a really difficult time in detention in pretty horrific conditions."

In addition to urinary pregnancy screenings at intake for women ages 10 to 56, ICE detention facilities provide onsite prenatal care and education, as well as remote access to specialists for pregnant women who remain in custody, according to information provided by ICE.

But immigration detention facilities have been the target of allegations of providing inadequate health care, particularly for pregnant women.

Until a few years ago, immigration authorities did not hold pregnant women in detention centers. Under the Obama administration, ICE issued a memo that said: “absent extraordinary circumstances or the requirement of mandatory detention, pregnant women will generally not be detained by ICE.”

But in December 2017, President Donald Trump's administration ended that policy as part of their tougher stance on illegal immigration.

"This is more than an isolated case, this was a policy decision by the administration to provide substandard care and keep people in really deplorable situations,'' Ziesmer said.

Earlier this year, ICE officials told The Arizona Republic that 28 women may have experienced a miscarriage just prior to or while in ICE custody over the past two fiscal years. Ten of the miscarriages occurred in the fiscal year 2017, and 18 occurred in the fiscal year 2018, as of Aug. 31, 2018, the statement said.

Follow Monsy Alvarado on Twitter: @MonsyAlvarado

This article originally appeared on North Jersey Record: A pregnant mother of two detained by ICE is one step closer to deportation