On the Deportation of Yessenia Ruano: Cruelty Is the Point

(Milwaukee, June 17th, 2025)— Today, despite overwhelming community support and a pending T-Visa application as a survivor of human trafficking, Yessenia Ruano and her twin 10-year-old U.S. citizen daughters were forced to board a plane to El Salvador.

This devastating outcome follows weeks of advocacy and action by local leaders, elected officials, and hundreds of community members who mobilized to support Yessenia and demand that she be allowed to remain safely in the United States while her case was under review.

According to her attorney Marc Christopher, “Given the confirmation of Yessenia’s pending T Visa application as a survivor of human trafficking, along with her long record of community contributions, we had hoped her removal could be postponed until the Department of Homeland Security issued a decision. Unfortunately, we were notified that her request for a stay was denied and that DHS was proceeding with her removal. Her T Visa application remains under consideration, but the process can take up to three years. Even if approved, returning to the U.S. becomes significantly more difficult after removal.”

At the airport, surrounded by supporters, Yessenia shared: “What’s happening here is a social injustice, because before we are immigrants, we are human beings. They are targeting families who want only what is best for their children. That does not make the United States safer. Suppose our elected officials truly cared about the well-being of our communities. In that case, they should be taking concrete action to fix our immigration system, instead of treating it like a political soccer match.

To my immigrant community, I say: let’s not live in fear. We must keep fighting, united. Together, we are stronger. Together, we can comfort each other in our grief. The government and the system want to divide us, but our love and unity are our strength, and our power to create change.”

Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera, shared, “While we have collectively resisted her deportation, it is apparent that ICE, under the direction of Stephen Miller and Donald Trump, is more interested in meeting their daily quota of deporting 3,000 people a day than making our communities safer. This is not about safety. It is about scapegoating immigrant workers in an obvious attempt to divide working-class people and divert attention from anti-worker economic policies that favor the ultra-rich. It is also a legacy of Congress’s failure to prioritize humane immigration reform. Yesenia is an inspiring and historic example for those who remain of the need to come forward, of the need to protest, and for the larger community they are a part of to stand in solidarity with those targeted by ICE and those who try to divide us. Together is the only way forward.”

Sarah Weintraub, member of the Milwaukee Teachers Education Association, colleague and friend of Yessenia Ruano, said: “I have the privilege of being both a coworker and a friend to Yessenia. We are sisters in the struggle for justice and human rights here in Wisconsin and around the world. Our struggle knows no borders, and we will continue to fight together, wherever we find ourselves.

These violent policies that are forcing Yessenia to return are tearing families apart, not only in the traditional sense, but in a much broader one. At our school, we often say, ‘Somos una familia—La Familia Alba.‘ And now, our family is being torn apart. When we return to school in the fall, we will feel that absence deeply. It won’t be the same, and that’s not right.

To those who still think this was a choice… to those who ask, ‘Why didn’t they follow the process? Why didn’t they just get their papers?’ I invite you to talk to us. Talk to an immigrant. There are no real pathways….We will stay in the struggle till she returns, till no family lives in fear of separation and deportation.”

Yessenia, her daughters, and supporters formed a circle in a closing blessing for Yessenia and her family, asking for peace and safety.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.