The mother of a U.S. Army intelligence officer has been deported to Mexico after living in San Diego for 31 years.
Rocio Rebollar Gomez, 51, went to Tijuana after several last efforts to remain in the U.S. failed.
The mother of three came to the U.S. in 1988 and was deported three times previously, making her ineligible for asylum.
Last month, Rebollar Gomez was rejected for a program that can shield some family members of serving military members from deportation.
"The prioritization of immigration fugitives since the inception of ICE emphasizes their arrest and removal because they deliberately ignored a federal judge's order," ICE spokeswoman Paige D. Hughes told CNN. "Intentionally failing to carry out final orders of removal is negligence and undermines the entire framework of immigration enforcement, as established by Congress, and renders federal law useless."
Rebollar Gomez has worked in hotels, delivering newspapers, in retail and cleaning offices.
"When I grew up, we lived above a laundry mat. She worked hard. At that point, she was making over $100,000 a year. She was paying her taxes," Cruz told NBC San Diego.