Douglas County teacher arrested by ICE leaves country with family

A Douglas County instructor who was arrested by immigration administration last month has been removed from the United States and returned to her home nation of Peru Marina Ortiz and her family agreed to voluntarily depart the U S earlier this month ending their detention in a family facility in Dilley Texas according to an email sent to parents by her former school A voluntary departure is a less punitive version of a deportation that immigrants in federal detention can request from an immigration judge People who pursue voluntary departures are typically required to leave within two weeks of a judge accepting the request and they leave directly from detention Unfortunately this decision means that Mrs Ortiz and her family will not be permitted to return to Colorado prior to leaving the United States Stacy Bush the principal of Parker s Global Village Academy wrote in a Nov email obtained by The Denver Post Ortiz taught fifth grade at the school This entire ordeal has been devastating and we know our students and families care deeply for her Bush wrote We have no choice but to accept the Ortiz family s decision about how to resolve this issue in the manner they think is in their best interest As of Monday afternoon Ortiz was no longer visible in U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement s online detainee database ICE representatives did not return a message seeking comment Monday afternoon In a declaration to Fox the agency authenticated that Ortiz requested and was granted a voluntary departure on Nov The agency noted she d been circulated by immigration officials after she entered the country in December and that she and her family left the country Nov Ortiz was arrested with her family by ICE during a routine immigration appointment in late October The school previously disclosed she had legal authorization to work in the country through spring The family was subsequently transferred to the Texas detention center After the arrest school representatives noted they d worked with attorneys to understand the underlying issues involved in this situation and to determine whether there were any feasible avenues for Ortiz s return to Colorado Related Articles Hundreds of National Guard troops deployed to Portland and Chicago are being sent home More than arrested in North Carolina as governor says immigration crackdown is stoking fear Affordability tops concerns for Colorado Latinos but criticism mounts for immigration crackdown asylum seekers deported by US to Ghana have been moved to an unknown location lawyer says Trump s next immigration crackdown will target Charlotte North Carolina a sheriff says Ultimately Bush wrote Ortiz and her family decided to request a voluntary departure They join a surge of immigrants in Colorado and across the United States who ve requested voluntary departures as a means of exiting detention The executive director of Global Village Academy Collaborative did not return messages seeking comment Monday A spokeswoman for the Douglas County School District referred comment to the school In a comment included in the school s Nov email Ortiz revealed her arrest and detention had taken a terrible emotional toll a life-or-death experience I never imagined But your promotion has kept me from giving up You gave me not just a job but stability and a area she wrote To the parents students and teachers who cared for us thank you from the bottom of my heart You gave me hope when I needed it the majority