Mother of Children Left Alone After Glass House Raids Is Deported

The mother of three boys arrested in last week’s immigration raids on Glass House Farms in Carpinteria and Camarillo has been deported, the Independent has learned. 

Juan Martinez, age 15, said his mother is being held in a detention facility in Tijuana, Mexico, and that he and his brothers, ages 8 and 9, plan to join her soon after she is released. When that will be is unclear.

Martinez had been hopeful his mother’s removal could be stopped, or at least delayed, as her attorneys filed motions last week for a bail hearing. But in a phone conversation Monday morning, he sounded despondent. “I don’t know anymore,” he said. “I’m just really sad.”

Martinez’s mother is a single parent and the family’s sole provider. She immigrated from Guerrero, Mexico, 16 years ago and has lived and worked in Southern California since. Other than her undocumented border crossing, she has no criminal record.

Initially left alone with his younger siblings, Martinez has since been joined by an aunt, cousin, and family friends, who are helping them navigate the legal and practical challenges ahead. “We’re getting a lot of support and help,” he said. “I’m really grateful for that. It’s good to know I’m not alone.”

Elizabeth Navarro, one of their former teachers, has also created a GoFundMe to help cover their living expenses and attorneys fees. “My heart breaks that we couldn’t stop this in time,” she said of their mother’s sudden deportation, just three days after she was taken into custody. “The way she was treated, misled, and pressured under distressing circumstances was entirely unjust.”

The funds, Martinez said, may also be used to help them start a new life in Mexico. “I want to be with my mom, so that will be good,” he said of their pending relocation. “But it will be really different and hard to adjust.” He last visited Mexico when he was 3 years old.

Martinez is determined to remain strong for his brothers ― all three of them are legal U.S. citizens ― but he’s finding it difficult to eat or sleep. He only eats so the people around him don’t worry, he said. Afterward, he feels like throwing up. He cried most of the day Sunday after learning of his mother’s removal, he said.

Martinez’s immediate concern is painting and patching the walls of their apartment so they don’t lose their security deposit when they move. “It’s all just really scary,” he said. His aunt is encouraging him to pray.

Even before Thursday’s raids, Martinez said his family lived in perpetual fear of the immigration sweeps taking place across Southern California. “We didn’t go out much,” he said. “We barely went outside.”

And though life had been difficult in recent years ― the father of Martinez’s brothers was an absentee alcoholic who had abandoned the family ― his mother worked hard to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. “She never gave up,” he said. “She always kept pushing.”