Daniela Pelaez was looking forward to attending Dartmouth College on a full scholarship this fall, but the North Miami Senior High valedictorian might be headed back to Colombia instead of the Ivy Leagues.
UPDATE, 5:15 p.m.: Though the letter Pelaez received indicated that by law she and her sister are deportable, their deportation remains deferred under the terms of President Obama's June hold on deportation for some Dream Act-eligible students.
U.S. Immigration and Customs released a statement confirming the agency filed a motion affirming that the immigration judge made the right decision based on laws as they are currently written, and the sisters' reprieve still stands.
"ICE exercised prosecutorial discretion in March and granted Daniela and Dayana Pelaez deferred action for two years. There has been no action taken by or contemplated by ICE since that deferred action was granted," read a statement sent by ICE Deputy Press Secretary Gillian Christiensen.
"ICE filed a one paragraph motion with the court that indicated, as a matter of law, the government’s belief that the immigration judge’s ruling regarding the sister’s eligibility for cancellation of removal was correct. This motion only discussed the legal opinion and nothing in this motion disturbs the agency’s decision to grant deferred action to the sisters.”
Read the original story below:
Daniela Pelaez was looking forward to attending Dartmouth College on a full scholarship this fall, but the North Miami Senior High valedictorian might be headed back to Colombia instead of the Ivy Leagues.
After receiving a 2-year deportation reprieve in March, Miami's poster child for the Dream Act recently learned that Department of Homeland Security lawyers are asking the judge on her case to not grant her appeal, WSVN reports.
"For the last couple of weeks, I guess I've been living in this false sense of hope," Pelaez, whose parents brought her to the states from Colombia when she was 4 year old, told WSVN. "It saddens me, and it angers me."
Pelaez, 18, made waves last spring when she and her sister Dayana faced deportation even though their father and brother were granted legal residency and citizenship, respectively. Her brother even served 2 years in the military in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Pelaez, who graduated with a 6.7 GPA, and her sister were granted a two-year deportation reprieve after the South Florida community erupted into protests. Her North Miami Senior High classmates staged a walkout from classes to show their support.
Even Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) backed Pelaez, sending a letter directly to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s acting director of congressional relations, asking him to block her deportation. Read her letter here.
This fresh threat of deportation comes on the heels of President Obama's recent immigration stance in which he asked Homeland Security to give work permits to young people who are at risk of deportation.
"They pledge allegiance to our flag. They are Americans in their hearts, in their minds, in every single way but one: on paper," Obama said.
Pelaez expressed her frustation to The Huffington Post in March,"Why should we be punished for what our parents did?”
PHOTOS: A school walk-out for the Pelaez sisters in March:
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