Couple deported after 35 years in California, their 3 US-born daughters in shock

A Southern California family is devastated after the deportation of an couple -- Gladys and Nelson Gonzalez -- who had lived in the United States for 35 years. Their three US-born daughters are in shock and heartbroken by the sudden action by the US authorities.

Gladys Gonzalez, 55, and Nelson Gonzalez, 59, were detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on February 21. After spending three and a half weeks in detention, they were deported to their native Colombia on March 18, according to CNN.

The Gonzalez couple arrived in the US in 1989, near San Ysidro in California. Over the decades, they built a life in the US, raised their three daughters, and became integrated into their community.

According to their daughters, the couple had consistently complied with immigration procedures, attending regular check-ins and pursuing legal avenues to remain in the country.

“For nearly four decades, they have built a life here -- raising three daughters, giving back to their community, and recently welcoming their first grandchild,” their daughter Stephanie Gonzalez wrote on a GoFundMe page for the family.

“Now, they are being treated as criminals,” the daughters said, describing their parents' treatment as "cruel and unjust".

“This cruel and unjust situation has shattered our family emotionally and financially. Every day they remain detained is another stolen from their family, community, and their home,” the daughters said.

According to an immigration attorney, Monica Crooms, who has been working with the couple, the Gonzalezes spent many years searching for a viable path to citizenship, paid their taxes and never had any trouble with the law.

“They were looking for a way to legalise their status in the way that was available to them at the time in the ’90s. Unfortunately, they fell victim to predatory immigration practices that were pretty flagrant,” CNN quoted Crooms as saying.

Crooms also condemned the way the couple were deported without giving a time to get their affairs in order and say goodbye to their daughters and grandchild.

According to the Customs Enforcement department, the Gonzalez couple had exhausted all legal options to remain in the US between March 2000 and August 2021. The officials added that Nelson Gonzalez had filed for asylum in 1992, but that case was closed in 1998, and that a voluntary departure order was issued in 2000.