A woman was targeted by the El Paso shooter in 2019 and survived. Despite helping in the investigation, she was later deported back to Mexico.
Here's why she's fighting to return...
Here's why she's fighting to return...
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00:00the officer indicated to me that because she had a final order of deportation,
00:04that they had every right to remove her from the country. And I asked him,
00:08were you aware that she was a victim of the Walmart shooting
00:12and that she had cooperated with police? And he said,
00:16yeah, she mentioned that, but that, you know, that, that doesn't change anything.
00:31She got pulled over and they, and they found that she had two outstanding tickets from 2015.
00:37So what would have been a simple traffic stop with her staying in jail for a day and a half
00:42to pay the fines, turned into an ICE detainer and her being transferred to ICE custody on Friday
00:49morning. She went to high school here. She worked here. She had her ties here, you know, family and
00:56friends. So this deportation was, was really, I think very surprising to her because the last
01:03time that she was in Juarez, she was still a child.
01:06Not only was she present and observed everything, she was in fear for her life the entire time she
01:34was there. She came to my office in October of 2019. And she explained to me her circumstances
01:43of, you know, her, her presence at the Walmart that day and how things, you know, happened and
01:47unfolded for her. And during the interview, one of the, either the FBI or the Homeland Security
01:53official mentioned that some of the information that she had provided had not yet been corroborated
01:59by any other source. She was targeted by the shooter directly, which, you know, every crime
02:23that is listed in the U visa includes the attempt of that same crime. So attempted murder, say,
02:30for example, is a crime that qualifies for a U visa. And in this case, having a weapon of war
02:39pointed at you, I would imagine would qualify you for a U visa.
03:09We're asking that she be returned to the United States so that, number one, she can continue the
03:18emotional and mental therapy that she was attending that was a result of this, that was
03:23necessary as a result of this crime. And number two, she can continue to assist and, and provide
03:30information for law enforcement and the prosecutors in this case. And most importantly, so that she
03:38can continue living her life with the understanding that because she has taken the steps necessary to
03:47to help bring about justice, you know, that's what all we're looking for is justice for
03:52all those 23 people that died and, and the countless numbers of people who will now live
03:57the rest of their lives with emotional and mental scars that are incomprehensible to most of us.