ICE plans to deport UMD student taken into custody with her mother

ICE plans to deport a University of Maryland freshman and her mother. They were detained after showing up for a scheduled immigration check-in in Baltimore. Fox 5's Regina Ureta is live in College Park with the very latest on this case. Regina? Yeah, guys, Maria Jose Flores Garcia is a freshman at the University of Maryland. Last week, her and her mother were detained by ICE. Now, her boyfriend tells Fox 5 that they were heading into an immigration check-in in Baltimore last week, thinking that they were following the process. Instead, they were taken into custody by ICE. Obviously, people come into this country with hopes and opportunities that they might not have in their countries. And I'm just trying to say that, like, obviously, she had fulfilled the best to her power, the opportunity that she was given. And it'd be very sad for her, for all of her hard work and her time to just be put to waste. Garcia is an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador. Her boyfriend says she is a young woman with a bright future. She has a college scholarship and is studying public health. We also talked to her former high school teacher on the phone. He shared how just a few months ago she was valedictorian, sharing with her graduating class how difficult it was to migrate to the U.S. from El Salvador at the age of nine. He also says it's been frustrating to see comments with little compassion to their situation. The Department of Homeland Security entered the U.S. illegally. In 2016, she was arrested in Texas and released by the Obama administration. In a written statement, the department says in 2021, she received due process and was issued a final order or removal by an immigration judge. She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the United States. And tonight, Democratic U.S. Senator Senator of Maryland, Chris Van Hollen, writing. Detaining Maria Flores Garcia, a former high school valedictorian and current student at the University of Maryland, puts a clear lie to ICE's claim that they're going after the worst of the worst. They're not. They're going after whoever they please, and it's clear they're not making our communities any safer. And meanwhile, the University of Maryland says they are aware of the situation. They say that they've been trying to contact their loved ones to connect them with local officials. We also reached out to Garcia's immigration attorney, but at this time they have no further details to discuss on their case. Jim and Angie.