‘Nobody deserves to be here’: Former Maryland valedictorian addresses ICE arrest from detention facility as Gov. Wes Moore extends support

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Maria Flores Garcia, a former valedictorian at Parkdale High School, was taken into custody during a routine immigration check-in with her mother.

A University of Maryland student who was the valedictorian at her high school in Prince George's County, who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents alongside her mother last week, has spoken out from an immigration detention facility in Louisiana. Maria Flores Garcia, a former valedictorian at Parkdale High School, was taken into custody during a routine immigration check-in with her mother at an ICE office in Baltimore.

Maria is originally from El Salvador, and came to the US when she was nine years old.

"I'm here with my mom, so that's nice," she told WUSA9, "But you look at your surroundings and you're like, 'Oh my God, nobody deserves to be here. Especially me.'"

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Maria earlier received a full scholarship to the University of Maryland. During her high school graduation, she opened up about the challenges she and her family faced after coming to Maryland from El Salvador, adding that the experiences motivated her to excel academically.

Maria was accompanying her mother to the immigration check-in, and decided to remain with her mom when ICE agents moved to take the woman into custody.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security alleged that the two of them entered the US illegally and were arrested in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 2016, per CBS News. According to DHS, they were placed in removal proceedings but released into the country, adding that an immigration judge issued a final order of removal on February 23, 2021.

“She will remain in ICE custody pending her removal from the United States. This administration will not ignore the rule of law," the DHS spokesperson said.

"I keep thinking, 'Oh, I should be doing this in my math class, or going to my class,'" she told WUSA9.

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