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Florida mom deported in 2018 reunited with family during Mother's Day weekend

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Updated  May 9, 2021 8:41am EDT
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FOX 35 Orlando

Deported mom reunites with family in time for Mother's Day

FOX 35 was there for the emotional reunion Alejandra Juarez had with her two daughters and husband on Saturday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - It was a Mother's Day weekend the Juarez family has been waiting for. Three years ago, Central Florida mother Alejandra Juarez was deported to Mexico. On Saturday, she was reunited with her family after being granted humanitarian parole.

FOX 35 was there for the emotional reunion Juarez had with her two daughters and husband.

Juarez had been living in the U.S. undocumented for two decades and during that time she married a veteran and had two daughters. Her American Dream became a nightmare after a traffic stop in 2013 put her on ICE's radar. In 2018, former President Donald Trump's zero-tolerance policy on immigration forced her back to Mexico.

Saturday, she was reunited with her family at Orlando International Airport after she was granted humanitarian parole.

"This is what healing looks like," Juarez said. "This is what this president is doing: Healing the country. Thank you, President Biden. God bless you."

Deported mother reunites with family

Just in time for Mother's Day, a deported mother is back on U.S. soil and getting to hug her children and husband again. FOX 35 was there for the emotional reunion.

But being granted humanitarian parole does not mean she can stay in the states permanently, and she could be sent back to Mexico in a year.

"This is a story of human beings and human families that belong together," said Juarez's attorney Andrea Martinez. "I hope that this story really brings awareness and gives people who didn’t ever see or know an immigrant a little bit more compassion for what these families go through."

Her attorney explains that there are limited options for Juarez as U.S. Citizenship comes after permanent resident status and for her to get that status would take an act of congress.

"Even though she’s happy to be here today – and we’re so grateful to have her back -- we are going to continue to fight for more. We need to see her and other immigrants, the millions of immigrants like her in the U.S. have a more protected status," Martinez said.

Representative Darren Soto worked to bring Juarez back to Central Florida. Soto is now pushing for the passing of H.R. 163, the Protect Patriot Spouses Act, and other key bills "to fix our immigration system and prioritize families."