Update: Norma was released from detenti0n in early February, 2015, thanks to all the community support and pressure for her case.  While she was freed on bond, her deportation case continues.  Stay tuned for more ways you can support her and her family!

Norma Edith Bernal Gutierrez (A#096-219-590) has been detained in Eloy and away from her four children for almost a year.  Because of two prior deportations and two minor criminal charges resulting from doing what she had to do to care for her children, Norma is facing deportation and ICE is telling her she’s not eligible for bond until March. She has been racially profiled, processed through notorious Operation Streamline, and had to return back across the border twice in order to reunite with her children.

Julisa, 16, Alexis, 15, Christopher, 9, and Mariana, 2, are all U.S. citizens born in Phoenix, Arizona. Their mom is a single parent who has worked hard for 16 years to raise her children. She takes them to school, kisses them on the cheek, and tucks them in at night on her own. Without their mom or any parent to care for them, the children are suffering. Basic needs are falling by the wayside: they don’t have a stable place to live, their health insurance and food stamps have expired, and Julisa has started looking for a job so they can pay for food. Alexis is too stressed to focus on school and Christopher cries himself to sleep most nights.

Norma’s kids can’t wait another day without their mom home.  Check out this letter from her son on why he needs his mom home!. 

Heartbreaking Letter from 10-year-old Christopher to Phoenix ICE Director Jon Gurule