- Oct 17, 2011
- 41,093
- 44,138
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Atheist
- Marital Status
- Legal Union (Other)
She’d traveled from Kennett, Missouri, her home for nearly two decades, to St. Louis for what she thought was a routine meeting to renew her employment authorization document.
The document, issued by the federal government, allows her to work legally in the U.S. and is set to expire in January 2026.
After a brief meeting, Mayorga said a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffer told her she needed to stay at the office in St. Louis. She agreed in hopes of receiving her renewal that suddenly seemed in peril.
Nearly seven hours passed before ICE officers entered the room, placing the 45-year-old woman, whom many residents in Kennett described as a soccer mom, in shackles at the wrists, waist and ankles.
Mayorga said before she knew it, officers placed her in the back of a van with four male ICE detainees.
She’s expected to be deported to Hong Kong.
Back in Kennett, Mayorga’s arrest shook the town of around 10,000 people, where she works at John’s Waffle & Pancake House.
Three weeks after Mayorga’s arrest, more than a hundred residents gathered at John’s Waffle & Pancake House on Tuesday.
John’s is typically closed on Tuesdays, but its owner, Liridona “Dona” Ramadani, opened the doors, pledging to donate all of the sales that day to Mayorga’s legal fund and to support Mayorga’s children.
Ramadani described Mayorga as part of her family and a diligent worker. It was Ramadani who retrieved Mayorga’s purse and car left in St. Louis after her ICE detainment — a 3½-hour drive up Highway 55.
“She never missed a day — always upbeat, always smiling,” Ramadani said. “She was always happy and greeting everybody — never standing around, always just working, finding something to do.”
The document, issued by the federal government, allows her to work legally in the U.S. and is set to expire in January 2026.
After a brief meeting, Mayorga said a U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services staffer told her she needed to stay at the office in St. Louis. She agreed in hopes of receiving her renewal that suddenly seemed in peril.
Nearly seven hours passed before ICE officers entered the room, placing the 45-year-old woman, whom many residents in Kennett described as a soccer mom, in shackles at the wrists, waist and ankles.
Mayorga said before she knew it, officers placed her in the back of a van with four male ICE detainees.
She’s expected to be deported to Hong Kong.
Back in Kennett, Mayorga’s arrest shook the town of around 10,000 people, where she works at John’s Waffle & Pancake House.
Three weeks after Mayorga’s arrest, more than a hundred residents gathered at John’s Waffle & Pancake House on Tuesday.
John’s is typically closed on Tuesdays, but its owner, Liridona “Dona” Ramadani, opened the doors, pledging to donate all of the sales that day to Mayorga’s legal fund and to support Mayorga’s children.
Ramadani described Mayorga as part of her family and a diligent worker. It was Ramadani who retrieved Mayorga’s purse and car left in St. Louis after her ICE detainment — a 3½-hour drive up Highway 55.
“She never missed a day — always upbeat, always smiling,” Ramadani said. “She was always happy and greeting everybody — never standing around, always just working, finding something to do.”
