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Faith leaders plead to stop Fairfield mom's deportation

Posted at 11:07 PM, Apr 17, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-18 04:45:54-04

FAIRFIELD, Ohio -- Fairfield mother Maribel Trujillo Diaz is still on track to be deported to Mexico Wednesday.

But some religious leaders from across the country are opposing her deportation. The organization "Faith and Public Life" sent a letter from leaders in 41 states and the District of Columbia to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, asking him to stop the deportation.

"Anytime that people of faith and conviction rally around a person, I think it's a good thing," Father Mike Pucke said.

Trujillo entered the U.S. illegally in 2002. She is the mother of four American children.

Pucke is Trujillo's pastor at St. Julie Billiart Church in Hamilton.

"We are down to the ultimate minutes and anything we can do to help Maribel is good for her, but it's also good for the thousands of "Maribels" throughout the country," he said.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials first came into contact with Trujillo Diaz 10 years ago during a raid of a Fairfield food plant.

Several of the people trying to keep her in the country are located in Greater Cincinnati. Sister Carren Herring with Sisters of Mercy has been rallying for weeks to keep Trujillo in the country, calling ICE every day and asking them to let her go.

"Don't separate this family," Herring said. "The children will have to be supported by the taxpayers."

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Trujillo's request for a stay of deportation last week. She is now being held in an immigration detention center in Louisiana.