Maria Bolaños Hernandez Maria Bolaños Hernandez
Hyattsville, MD
Christmas Eve 2009, Maria Bolaños Hernandez, a 28-year-old undocumented worker living in Maryland’s Prince George’s County, became a victim of domestic violence. As the argument with the father of her two year old daughter turned heated and violent she picked up the phone and sought the police for protection. It is this call for help that would eventually separate her from her children and set her on a path towards deportation. By the time Prince George’s Police responded to the call her partner had left the apartment. Months later Maria came home to an arrest warrant for her allegedly selling a $10 phone card to a neighbor – an unsubstantiated charge that Maria denied and later the police dropped. Still, Maria was fingerprinted and accordance to the Federal Government’s “Secure Communities” program her information was shared with I.C.E. officials and deportation procedures were initiated even though no criminal charges were filed against her. Maria spent five days in jail torn away from her small daughter, whom she was breastfeeding, not knowing if she would be able to see her again. At an Upper Marlboro Detention Center she pleaded with the authorities to let her feed her child, but her please were initially disregarded. A doctor at the Detention Center eventually determined that she was breastfeeding and Maria was fitted with an electronic locator ankle bracelet and sent home. Unable to accept her deportation orders, she decided to speak out against “Secure Communities” program and the dangers of local enforcement of immigration laws. In November of 2010, Maria traveled to Washington D.C. to personally address David Venturella, a high level I.C.E. official and Director of Secure Communities, and demand that her deportation be terminated. Maria has continued to take many risks coming forward and speaking out about the injustice she has faced and the helplessness that is created when a community cannot trust their police.
“No, I wouldn’t call police again” Said Maria Bolaños. “I would be very afraid that my partner would hit me, but no, I would not call the police.”