Patricia Balbuena Soto, a 49-year-old mother who had lived in New Jersey for roughly 30 years since age 19, was arrested in Atlantic City on July 24, 2025, on charges including home invasion burglary, weapon possession, criminal mischief and property damage. She was transferred to ICE custody the next day and held at Elizabeth Detention Center before being moved to Port Isabel in Texas. DHS said she had previously been removed from the country four times and illegally reentered a fifth time, a felony. She was deported to Mexico on August 5, 2025, leaving behind her 17-year-old daughter, Allison Garcia, a U.S. citizen and honors student with a 4.8 GPA. Garcia told reporters she felt alone navigating daily life without her mother, missed 21 school days, dropped two AP classes, saw her GPA fall to 3.5, abandoned her college plans, and depleted her $10,000 college fund to cover her mother's legal defense while managing the family's mortgage and finances alone.