Couple Deported To Colombia After 35 Years In US, Leaving Daughters Shocked

A couple residing in the United States for 35 years was deported by immigration officials, tearing apart a California family. Gladys Gonzales, 55, and Nelson Gonzalez, 59, were taken into custody in February, CNN reported.

The undocumented immigrant couple was arrested during one of their regular check-ins with the US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) on February 21. They were held for three and a half weeks before being deported to their home country on March 18.

Despite having no criminal history, Mr and Mrs Gonzales, who raised three daughters in Laguna Niguel, were deported, leaving their loved ones distraught.

In an email to CNN, their daughter Stephanie Gonzalez said her parents arrived at an immigration court in Santa Ana last month, "just like they have been doing since 2000."

The couple's three adult children - all reportedly US citizens - said in a GoFundMe page that their parents never "broke the law, never missed an appointment" since coming to the country.

"For nearly four decades, they have built a life here - raising three daughters, giving back to their community, and recently welcoming their first grandchild," the daughters wrote. "This sudden occurrence has left us in shock," they added.

The daughters mentioned their parents were now "being treated as criminals, held in detention centres, and facing deportation," which has "shattered our family emotionally and financially."

They said their parents "are kind, selfless people who have always put others before themselves," and have asked for generous donations from the public.

Monica Crooms, an immigration lawyer in Orange County who began representing the couple in 2018, said they "did expect that they would need to depart and were planning to do so, but not in the way that it happened."

Ms Crooms and their children said the Gonzalezes paid their taxes, never had any legal issues, and spent years looking for effective means to become citizens.

According to Ms Crooms, the couple's deportation officer "had not pushed for them to depart until 2018," telling them that if their status could not be legalised, they had to leave the country.

An ICE representative told The Independent that the pair had no criminal background and other case details. Both individuals entered the country in November 1989 near San Ysidro, California, without authorisation and had "exhausted all legal options to remain in the US".

The couple received a voluntary departure order in 2000 after the immigration court determined there was no valid cause for them to remain in the country. But they did not plan to leave the country after the order was issued.

Such orders allow individuals to leave the country at their own expense for a predetermined period of time to avoid a deportation order, according to ICE.