By Jose Gonzalez
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a University of Maryland student in Baltimore last week.
ICE detained Maria Flores Garcia, a freshman public health student from El Salvador, and her mother at an immigration check-in, NBC Washington reported on Monday. An immigration check-in is a once a year check-in with ICE, according to their website.
Flores’ boyfriend, Cesar Saavedra, set up a GoFundMe to help pay legal fees and to keep in contact with Flores and her mother, who are being held in Louisiana.
“They are both very wonderful people, very supportive people, very caring people,” Saavedra told Stories Beneath the Shell Monday.
Saavedra said he learned about Flores’ and her mother’s detention on Thursday, when she called him from a detention center in Baltimore.
“I know they’re trying to just keep all the hopes up that they can,” Saveedra said, “and they’re trying to push forward from the situation that they’re in.”
Flores’ detention comes as Americans have become increasingly fed up with President Donald Trump’s immigration policies. In an interview with CBS, Trump said his immigration crackdowns “both helped and hurt him” during Election Day.
Flores was the valedictorian at Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County. She earned a full-ride scholarship to attend UMD and has plans to become a doctor.
“You could ask any of the classmates that [Maria] had through [Parkdale High School], any teachers that she had through there,” Saavedra said. “They would all say the same thing that she was a very wonderful person to work with and a very wonderful student.”
Saavedra is asking for family, friends and university community members to stand up with them during this period of time.
“She is more than just a student,” Saveedra’s statement on GoFundMe said. “She is a daughter, a girlfriend, a friend, and someone with so many dreams and aspirations ahead of her. Her mother has been an important part of her journey, and having them both detained has been heartbreaking for everyone who loves them.”
Saveedra also told Stories Beneath the Shell: “It would just be super tragic if Maria Flores’ sacrifices and all of her work would all basically kind of go to waste if something was to happen.”
ICE did not immediately respond to Stories Beneath the Shell’s request for comment.
This story will be updated.
Featured Image: A photo of Maria Flores Garcia, the UMD student ICE detained in Baltimore, on her GoFundMe page. Photo courtesy of Cesar Saavedra.