Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations
Watch Live

Border & Immigration

Pregnant Immigrant Reunited With Daughters After Otay Mesa Detention

Maria Solis Jason plays with her daughters in North County, Sept. 14, 2017.
Jean Guerrero
Maria Solis Jason plays with her daughters in North County, Sept. 14, 2017.

UPDATE: 3:55 p.m., Sept. 14, 2017

Maria Solis Jasso is spending every day with her three daughters since immigration officials released her from the Otay Mesa Detention Center on an order of supervision.

Solis told KPBS her two-year-old does not understand why she was gone for so long, and that her five-year-old is now afraid of the police.

Advertisement

"She'll see cops going by and she gets scared — she thinks anybody's going to take her mommy away," Solis said. "And the baby, she just won't leave me alone. She wants to be with mommy, sleep with mommy ... but they're very excited and happy."

Pregnant Immigrant Reunited With Daughters After Otay Mesa Detention

Solis said she found out she was being released only minutes after requesting a deportation so that she would not have to stay in detention.

“I was very worried of having a miscarriage in there, so I felt I had no other option than to ask for my deportation in order to be able to get the medical care I needed," she said. "For me it's a miracle ... I didn't see it coming."

Solis has a pending application for a U-Visa, a special visa for victims of crime. She said she is a domestic abuse survivor from a previous husband who has since been deported to Mexico. Solis said she hopes she gets to stay in the U.S. because she fears being in the same country as him.

Original Story

Advertisement

A pregnant mother who spent more than a month in an Otay Mesa immigration detention facility has been reunited with her three daughters in North County.

Maria Solis Jasso was released from the facility on an order of supervision Tuesday night, and now plans to fight her immigration case from home. Solis' sister, Izabel, described receiving the news of her release.

"It was a miracle," she said, tearfully. "It was so emotional. It was hard to believe, but it was so happy."

Immigration officials stopped Solis on her way to work on Aug. 1, citing a reinstated order of deportation. Solis was not immediately available for comment.

RELATED: Pregnant Mother Fights For Release From Immigration Detention Facility In Otay Mesa

The decision to release Solis came a day after the ACLU of San Diego asked officials to release her, citing health concerns related to her pregnancy. Immigration and Customs Enforcement declined to comment on her release.

Solis first spoke to KPBS last month from the detention facility, saying she feared having a miscarriage because she was experiencing severe cramping and had experienced complications during her previous childbirths.

Her lawyer, Leah Chavarria, said Solis is a domestic violence survivor and has a pending application for a U-Visa, a special visa for victims of crimes.

Pregnant Immigrant Reunited With Daughters After Otay Mesa Detention
Maria Solis Jasso has been reunited with her three daughters in North County after a month and a half in immigration detention.

The North County Focus newsletter is your bi-weekly guide to all the news coming from North County, plus a handpicked selection of events and trivia tidbits.