In a matter of days, María Isidro, a nanny and wife of a preacher, went from being with her family in Live Oak, Florida, to being deported by ICE to Matamoros, Mexico.

Last week, Daniella Isidro announced on Facebook that her mother, Maria Isidro, had been flown back to Mexico from her home in Live Oak, Florida.

Maria first came to the United States in 1998 to seek medical care for one of her children, according to multiple news reports.

While she was once subject to a deportation order, it was repeatedly lifted at the discretion of government officials while Maria sought legal immigration status to remain in the country.

According to the Tallahassee Democrat, Maria was ordered deported in 2004 but has since been granted a “stay of removal” by a judge, a decision that is ultimately discretionary and can be overturned.

In 2023, Maria was approved for an I-130 application, also known as a petition for alien relative, to help her obtain legal status, the outlet reported. But then Maria received advance notice from USCIS and was detained by ICE when she showed up for her June 3 appointment.

Now, however, amid the federal government’s sweeping campaign to deport immigrants they say shouldn’t be in the United States, Maria’s family is speaking out in her defense following her detention and removal.

Daniella told ABC affiliate WCJB that her mother, who lives in Florida with her family, went to court to get an update on her immigration case, only to be held in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center for over a week and then deported.

“She was also handcuffed on her wrists, stomach, and ankles, causing bruises,” Daniella wrote on Facebook. “This [woman] is loved by a large community, a pastor’s wife, a grandmother, a widow, and our mother.”

“I started crying,” said María Isidro, 52, known as “Nana María.” She was contacted in Mexico by cell phone. “I’m in Matamoros, what am I going to do now? My children, my husband, my whole life is in Florida.”

When María Isidro was deported to Matamoros, Mexico, her belongings, including her phone and the clothes she was wearing the day of her arrest, were returned in a red bag. During the flight, they were still handcuffed and had little to eat or drink, she said. They were only allowed to use the bathroom once.

Two of the women detained on the plane were pregnant and not handcuffed, but Isidro and other women begged officials to let them have more water and go to the bathroom more often than the other women.

At one stop in Brownsville, agents separated the detainees by nationality and took Isidro and other Mexicans to a bridge that connected to Matamoros, a border city in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico.

After they dropped her off, Isidro begged to see a judge, an immigration official, or someone else who could explain her case, but was told, “We can’t help you; it’s not our job.”

Maria wept as she spoke of her husband of 31 years and their four children. She wants people to know that those being detained are ordinary people who work in landscaping, construction, or childcare, just like her. They are not drug dealers or gang members.

Her family expressed particular concern because Maria is diabetic and allegedly doesn't have her medication.

Her son told the Tallahassee Democrat that the family is now preparing to take legal action: "This is not justice."

With information from the Tallahassee Democrat, People and The Florida Times-Union