MAPLEWOOD, Mo. (First Alert 4) – A Maplewood family is separated after ICE agents detained the husband during a routine check-in appointment last week.
Alba Matamoro and her husband Boanerges Flores came to Missouri three years ago from Nicaragua. The couple has been seeking asylum.
Last week, the couple went to their routine check-in appointment with ICE. Agents detained Flores and released Matamoro with an ankle monitor.
“It’s been very difficult, especially for my daughter, because she’s used to her father putting her to bed and saying good night to her,” Matamoro said.
Matamoro said her husband worked for the Nicaraguan government and that it’s not safe to go back. She said they’ve attended every appointment to be granted asylum.
Flores is now in the process of being deported.
“We were told we had to leave the country because we didn’t have a court date,” Matamoro said. “It was a complete surprise because we always look at the news and saw that the president was going to take criminals out of the country.”
The couple works in the Maplewood-Richmond Heights school district at the school their 8-year-old daughter attends. District staff described them as model employees.
Missouri court records also show no traces of a criminal history for the couple.
Matamoro is already shipping boxes to family in Nicaragua. She said the impending move hasn’t been easy to explain to their daughter.
“She’s told me that she doesn’t want to leave and she wants to stay here studying in school with her friends,” Matamoro said.
“My message is to people like us—that you think twice before going to your appointment,” she said.
The next appointment for the couple’s asylum case is slated for next month.
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