A press conference this morning outside the Laredo Detention Center lays out the imminent deportation plight of Griselda Cruz-López, an El Salvadoran woman seeking asylum as a victim of gang death threats in El Salvador, domestic violence, and retaliation.
If deported, she faces separation from her six-year-old daughter, a U.S. citizen who lives in Chicago. The two last saw each other in October of 2017 when Cruz-López’s abusive ex-partner called immigration authorities to her home while the child was visiting with him.
Cruz-López’s asylum appeal was denied in the same week that she received U-visa certification from the Chicago Police Department, the first step in receiving legal status to remain in the U.S. as a victim of domestic violence.
While in custody at the CoreCivic detention facility in Laredo, Cruz-López sustained a serious head injury in February of 2018 in a fall to the concrete floor after taking a prescribed medication that caused her to lose her balance. Though she repeatedly implored for the medical attention of a physician for head injuries, she saw only the facility’s physician and given only ice packs and aspirin for the visible injury that caused her head to swell.
A large scale community protest outside the detention facility on Saunders in February 2019 got her an external appointment with a neurosurgeon who told her she could need surgery and therapies, but only if ICE signed off on the medical procedures. ICE has not.
Members of the Laredo Immigrant Alliance, MOVE Texas, Webb County Young Democrats, LULAC, and Grassroots Leadership of Austin have expressed alarm that ICE’s speedy deportation of Cruz-López could be a means to silence her and to evade legal liability for denying her medical care.
They are asking Rep. Henry Cuellar to intercede on behalf of the 46-year-old-woman who, if deported, faces targeted death threats in El Salvador under medical duress.
Believing that her deportation sets a dangerous precedent for silencing and disappearing victims of violence, advocates for Cruz-Lopez are asking the Webb County Commissioners Court to intervene, as they hold oversight and legal responsibility for the detention center through an Intergovernmental Service Agreement (IGSA) with ICE and CoreCivic.
Congressman Cuellar can be reached at (202) 225-1640 or through his Laredo office at sylvia.segovia@mail.house.gov
Phone numbers for members of the Webb County Commissioners Court are Judge Tano Tijerna, (956) 523-4600; Pct. 1 Comm. Jesse Gonzalez, (956) 523-4660; Pct. 2 Comm. Wawi Tijerina, (956) 523-4624; Pct. 3 Comm. John Galo, (956) 523-4625; and Pct. 4 Comm. Cindy Liendo, (956) 523-4652.
