Colombian Gladys and Nelson González lived in USA Since 1989. They had escaped the violence that shook their country in the 80s to make a new life in California, where they had three daughters. But on February 21, everything ended for them when they were arrested by US immigration authorities and weeks after deported to their country of origin.
The couple had come to a routine appointment With the Immigration and Customs Control Service (ICE, for its acronym in English) as part of your effort to regularize your immigration statusbut both were handcuffed with hands and ankles and arrested.
Three weeks spent federal custody first at the advancement center of advance, in the county of San Bernardinothen in an installation in Arizona and subsequently to Louisianauntil they were deported deported a Colombia.
In USA His daughters were left Gabby23 years; Stephanie27; and Jessicaof 33, all American citizens.
They knew anything about their parents for two weeks, until communication was allowed.
“The only thing they told them were that they had exhausted their stay. This despite the fact that every year they managed to extend their permission to be in the country and who are citizens who respect the law and have never hidden from the authorities, ”he said Stephanie.
“We had to pick up your vehicle to the parking lot and we couldn’t say goodbye,” Stephanie told CNN.
They could never regularize their situation
Colombian Gladys and Nelson González arrived in states in 1989 as undocumented and in March this year they were deported to Colombia.
Gladys and Nelson González with their first granddaughter.
“For almost four decades, they have built a life here: raising three daughters, contributing to their community and recently welcoming their first grandson, ”he wrote Stephanie on a page GOFUNDME. “Now, they are being treated as criminals.”
Monica Crooms, an immigration lawyer who began working with the couple in 2018, told CNN that The González spent many years looking for a viable path to citizensThey paid their taxes and never had problems with the law.
He added that The ideal would have been for the couple to have had time to put their affairs in order and say goodbye to their daughters and their grandson.
During your electoral campaign, Donald Trump promised to stop and deport criminals. But once he assumed power on January 20, ICE agents are arresting and expelling virtually anyone who has entered irregularly to the United States, regardless of their criminal record.
Deportened Venezuelan migrants from the United States and stranded in Honduras disembark from a Conviasa Airlines plane upon arrival at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela, on March 24, 2025. (Photo by Juan Barreto / AFP)
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ICE said in a statement that Gladys and Nelson arrived in the United States as undocumented in 1989.
Entered by land through the Garita de San Ysidroon the border between San Diego and Tijuana (Mexico).
“When my parents left Bogotá, the city and the country were known as the world capital of the murder.”Stephanie wrote. “They fled from the unbridled violence of drug trafficking in which they were forced to live.”
Lawyer Crooms told CNN that the couple had no visa when he reached USAbut They were granted permission to request asylum.
In 2000, the Immigration Court found no legal reason that allowed Gladys and Nelson to remain in the United States And they were issued a voluntary exit order, ICE reported.
Crooms explained to CNN why The González did not obey the order to leave the United States. He said that The couple’s lawyer at that time deceived them telling them that the order could be appealed and possibly lead to an eventual legalization.
The couple has spent thousands of dollars on legal advice over the years, and some of those who hired were not immigration lawyers at all, said Crooms.
The lawyer said that For two decades, the couple remained under an order of supervision. CNN explained that through the Department of National Security, the program allows people with expulsion orders to remain in the United States and register at least once a year while preparing to leave the country.
A new life in Colombia
Gladys and Nelson González in an image of the Gofundme.gladys and Nelson González petition campaign in an image of the Gofundme petition campaign.
Gladys and Nelson González in an image of the Gofundme petition campaign.
Now the González seek to rebuild their life from zero in Colombia. His daughters created a campaign in GOFUNDME with the objective of raise funds to cover legal expenses and facilitate its adaptation to the South American nation.
“With great regret, we share our situation. Our parents, Gladys and Nelson, who have considered the US for 35 years, were unjustly arrested. They have raised three daughters, built a life here and Recently they became grandparents. Now they face the difficult task of starting over Colombia, “says the initiative.
“After talking with about 30 lawyers, the best thing we can do is prepare a new life for our parents in their country,” he said Stephanie in its request for funds.
So far, they have raised $ 74,600.
