According to The New Republic, Espinoza immigrated from a high-crime town in Mexico in 1995 at age 16 with her father. She lived what she called a “normal life” of working and caring for children for decades, until her asylum bid was denied in 2015 under the Obama administration. She has spent years appealing the decision, but in January 2017, ICE ordered her to begin check-ins with an officer every three months, which soon became every two weeks, culminating in a deportation notice and ankle monitor in August 2017. Columbus Mennonite Church offered Espinal sanctuary, protecting her from deportation by keeping her at the church, which ICE is not expected to enter.