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Mother of three struggles to feed children while husband held by ICE

Garcia, a mother of three working as a cleaner, is spending nearly all her earnings on $15,000 in legal fees after her husband's DUI arrest led to his transfer into ICE custody in California.

Oct 2025Manatee County, FL

Mother of three struggles to feed children while husband held by ICE
Photo via WUSF

Garcia's husband was arrested by a Manatee County sheriff's deputy on a DUI charge last October and transferred to ICE custody. He is being held at a detention center in California. Garcia, a mother of three, works as a cleaner and party venue staff member while applying for a T visa (trafficking victim relief) for both herself and her husband at a cost of approximately $15,000. She disclosed that at age sixteen, smugglers brought her into the U.S. and held her against her will for years in what she describes as kidnapping; her husband faced labor abuse as an H-2A visa migrant farmworker before overstaying. Since his arrest, Garcia has taken only one day off for an immigration appointment. Most of her earnings go toward legal fees and her husband's detention account so he can purchase food and make phone calls home. With limited funds remaining, she struggles to feed her children and has had to forgo celebrating family birthdays and holidays.

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