Indianapolis woman worries about her American children's fate after she is deported

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An Indianapolis woman is preparing to be deported to a country she left at age 5, but her primary concern is ensuring that her children are able to return.

Erika Fierro, 35, says she has been unable to obtain American passports for her children, 9-year-old Angel and 3-year-old Jennifer. They are U.S. citizens because they were born in this country.

She said she faces a June 27 deportation date. Her husband and the children’s father, Jesus Peña, was deported to Mexico several weeks ago. Fierro plans to take their children with her but said she may want to send them back to Indiana if Mexico proves too unsafe.

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After Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials deported Peña, Fierro said she asked to stay in the U.S. long enough to get her children’s American passports. But she said she may not be able to get them by the time she is deported later this month. She said ICE officials did not let Peña sign the children’s documents before they deported him.

An ICE official declined to comment on Fierro's version of events but said she and her husband have both made false claims to being U.S. citizens, which is a felony.

ICE officials earlier this year told IndyStar that Fierro and Peña had been deported once previously.

“They were served with expedited removal orders and deported to Mexico,” a statement from ICE said. “On an unknown date and location, both subsequently illegally re-entered the United States, which is a felony.”

Police pulled her husband over earlier this year while he was driving to a construction job in Lebanon. Peña was charged with driving without a driver’s license.

About two months later, Fierro said, three immigration officers showed up at their house at 5 a.m. to take Peña into custody and begin deportation proceedings. Jennifer watched from the window.

“She still … says, ‘The man took my daddy,’ and she cries, ‘My daddy,’” Fierro said.

Fierro’s situation comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration. In April, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a zero-tolerance policy for illegal entry. The policy included separating parents from children as young as 18 months old at the U.S.-Mexico border, USA Today reported. Under law, children are separated from parents undergoing criminal proceedings.

“It’s not as if we want to see if we can be mean to children,” Sessions said Thursday during a news conference in Fort Wayne. “That’s not what this is about.”

He said the U.S. has "reasonable" immigration laws that need to be enforced.

“We either have open borders, or we have laws,” Sessions said. “I think the choice is pretty clear.”

David Gorak, executive director of the Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration, said the administration is doing its job to enforce immigration laws.

“The federal government is made out to be the bad guy,” he said. “The responsibility for the problems that are affecting these families lie squarely with the individual that made the deliberate decision to enter this country illegally.”

Fierro grew up in Indianapolis, graduated from Beech Grove High School and attended St. Patrick Catholic Church for 21 years.

“My life is here,” Fierro said. “Not only my blood family, but I have my church, my faith family.”

She said she and her family plan to move to Reynosa, her husband’s hometown in Tamaulipas, Mexico. Reynosa, a border city, is rife with kidnappings and robbery, Fierro said. She hopes to be able to move with her children to a safer place farther south.

“If I can’t keep them in a safe place, it’s not something I wish would happen, but I would have to send them back (to Indiana) again,” Fierro said with tears in her eyes. But sending them into the U.S. without their American passports may not be possible.

“Without that, it’s like you keep them in a dangerous place,” she said.

When Fierro first heard that her husband would be deported, she reached out to Faith in Indiana, a social justice nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis. Tracey Horan, the group’s community organizer, accompanied Fierro to her first meeting with immigration officials.

“For people who are detained, the process is just really scary,” Horan said.

Faith in Indiana joined with clergy from Fierro’s home church, St. Patrick Catholic Church, as well as the Catholic archbishop to attend Fierro’s immigration meetings with her, Horan said.

On May 27, she said she attended a meeting where officials took away her passport. A Faith in Indiana support group went with her two days later to her next appointment, which Fierro thought might be her last.

When Fierro emerged from the immigration office, the group of about 40 people cheered.

“A lot of our leaders have been shocked to go through this with Erika,” Horan said, “and to recognize the injustice of what’s going on.”

Greg Otolski, a spokesman for the Catholic archdiocese in Indianapolis, said it is the church’s duty to care for immigrants and people in need.

“It’s immoral to tear families apart like that,” Otolski said. “A big part of Catholic teaching is that family is the basic building block or fabric of society.”

Fierro and Peña had been actively involved with their faith community, starting music ministries at several churches around Indianapolis.

“She’s a fabulous member of the church, a fabulous neighbor and a great American,” said the Rev. John Beitans of Good Shepherd Catholic Church.

Fierro will be holding a yard sale this Saturday at Good Shepherd Church to sell all her belongings she cannot bring to Mexico.

IndyStar reporter Jordyn Hermani contributed to this article.

Call IndyStar reporter Faith E. Pinho at (317) 444-6083.