Born Into Crisis: Protesting ICE at TMC
ICE tore a mother from her newborn so we showed up to make sure the world didn’t look away.
On Saturday May 3, 2025, I joined an impromptu protest outside Tucson Medical Center after learning that a 24 year old woman from Guatemala, named Erika, had been detained by ICE just after giving birth. She crossed the U.S.-Mexico border just south of Tucson, eight months pregnant, seeking safety from extreme violence she experienced in Guatemala. Instead, she was met with shackles, surveillance, and near-instant deportation.
While hospitalized at TMC, federal agents stood guard outside her room, preventing visits and even denying her access to her attorney, Luis Campos, who said Erika had been slated for expedited removal, which is a fast-track deportation process that denies a hearing.
According to Campos, Erika had walked two days through the desert before being apprehended near Tres Bellotas Ranch, roughly 50 miles south of Tucson. She fled what her mother described as a “violent situation” in Guatemala.
This case quickly gained public attention and public outrage. The idea that a mother could give birth in a U.S. hospital and then be immediately detained without legal representation sparked swift backlash. In response, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs personally reached out to federal officials and immigration attorneys on Erika’s behalf.
Thanks to that intervention, Erika’s deportation was paused, and she was placed in standard removal proceedings, which gives her the opportunity to request asylum. According to Customs and Border Protection, Erika has now been transferred to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and given a court date. Her newborn child remains in her care.
Let that sink in: It took public pressure, a protest, a lawyer’s persistence, and a governor’s intervention just to stop ICE from deporting a woman who had just given birth.
And the people showed up.
Roughly 210 people gathered outside Tucson Medical Center with less than a day's notice. No formal organizing, no headlines. Just community members who refused to look away.
We stood for Erika, for her child, and for every family traumatized by these violent policies.
We were there to say: This is not normal. This is not okay. And we will not be silent.
Let me make this clear as day: The Tower Project will continue to stand firm to support immigrant rights and the rule of law.
05/03/2025