A 64-year-old grandmother in the U.S. without documentation is facing deportation after she mistakenly took the wrong exit on her way home from work.
Ana Camero’s family says she’s currently being held at Otay Mesa Detention Center more than a month after she made the unexpected detour and ended up at the entrance to a U.S. Marines facility in San Diego.
Camero was driving home from her job as a dishwasher at a La Jolla restaurant on April 7 when she stopped to get gas. She then drove into the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego by mistake. There, she was asked for proper identification and when she could not provide one, immigration enforcement was called, officials said.
“It was just a wrong turn,” her daughter, Melissa Hernández, told news station Telemundo 20.
Camero has lived in the United States for more than 20 years. Born in Mexico, she does not have a California driver’s license or any other form of identification, according to her family. A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed Camero is in custody and currently being processed for deportation back to Mexico.
Hernández said her mother is diabetic and has a vascular condition, but is not receiving any medical care or medication while in the detention facility.
“Her foot has already begun to swell again due to lack of circulation — something that, if untreated, could lead to severe consequences,” Hernández said in a GoFundMe campaign seeking to raise money to hire an immigration attorney.
A spokesperson for the Marine Corps Recruit Depot said in a statement that when someone tries to enter a federal installation without proper authorization they are required to provide a government-issued form of identification.
“When an individual cannot or does not provide the required form of identification the appropriate federal authorities, including U.S. customs and border patrol are notified. This applies regardless of whether the individual claims the entry was by mistake,” the statement said. “As a federal installation, we are mandated to uphold all federal statutes [or laws].”
Camero’s family said that officials at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot contacted U.S. Border Patrol after Camero could not present a valid form of identification.
Hernández learned that her mother was in custody after she received a call from a Marine Corps spokesperson who told her that her mother’s car was at their base.
As she waited outside the base for more information, she saw the Border Patrol vehicles arrive, Hernández told the Mercury News.
Camero was provided an attorney during a recent court appearance at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. According to her family, she intends to fight the deportation order.
