‘I want my vote back': Trump-voting family stunned after Canadian mother detained over immigration status
'We feel totally blindsided,' Cynthia Olivera's husband – US citizen and self-identified Trump voter Francisco Olivera – told the California news station KGTV. 'I want my vote back.'
Cynthia Olivera, a 45-year-old mother of three US-born children, thus joined a growing list of examples contradicting the Trump administration's claims that the immigration crackdown it has spearheaded since the president's return to the Oval Office in January has prioritized targeting dangerous criminals.
Being in the US without legal status is generally a civil infraction rather than a criminal violation. Nonetheless, despite its claim that the immigration crackdown is mainly meant to rid the US of violent criminals, the White House has maintained that anyone in the US who lacks legal status is a criminal subject to deportation.
Olivera was unwittingly thrust under the weight of those policies after Trump spent his successful 2024 presidential campaign promising to pursue them, earning her husband's vote along the way, according to what he told KGTV. She was just 10 when her parents brought her to the US from Toronto without permission, she said to the station.
By 1999, when she was about 19, US immigration officials at the Buffalo border crossing had determined Olivera was living in the country without legal status and obtained an expedited order to deport her. But, after being removed, she was able to return to the US by driving to San Diego from Mexico within a few months.
'They didn't ask me for my citizenship – they didn't do nothing,' Olivera would later say to KGTV. 'They just waved me in.'
She recounted spending the next 25 years working in Los Angeles, paying taxes and providing for her family. KGTV reported that its investigative team scoured California and federal court databases, but the unit found no criminal charges under Cynthia Oliver's name.
In 2024, toward the end of his presidency, Joe Biden's administration granted her a permit allowing her to work legally in the US. She had also been navigating the process to obtain legal permanent US residency – colloquially referred to as a green card – for years.
Nonetheless, instead of supporting the candidate Biden endorsed to succeed him, then vice-president Kamala Harris, Olivera's husband supported Trump in November's White House election. He told KGTV that Trump's promises to deport criminals en masse appealed to both him and Cynthia. And, echoing other mixed immigration status families who have had members affected by Trump's policies, the Oliveras did not believe she would be hurt by her lack of legal US residency.
They learned she would in fact be affected by her immigration status when she went for a green card interview in Chatsworth, California, on 13 June. She was detained there by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents, according to a change.org petition pleading for compassion on behalf of Cynthia.
Olivera has since been transferred to an Ice detention center in El Paso, Texas, to await being deported.
Speaking to KGTV over a video call from the El Paso facility, Olivera suggested her treatment was undeserved.
Sign up to This Week in Trumpland
A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration
after newsletter promotion
'The US is my country,' Olivera remarked to the station in an interview published on 3 July. 'That's where I met my husband. That's where I went to high school, junior high, elementary [school]. That's where I had my kids.'
But the Trump administration had little sympathy for Olivera, despite her husband's support of the president, with a spokesperson saying in a statement that Cynthia was 'an illegal alien from Canada'.
Olivera had been 'previously deported and chose to ignore our law and again illegally entered the country', said the spokesperson's statement, as reported by Newsweek. The statement noted that re-entering the US without permission after being deported is a felony, and it said Olivera would remain in Ice's custody 'pending removal to Canada'.
Canada's government commented to KGTV that it was aware of Olivera's detention but could not intervene on her behalf because 'every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders'.
Francisco Olivera, for his part, summed up his and his wife's disillusion by saying: 'My wife … up until [a couple of weeks] ago, was a strong believer in what was going to happen the next four years.'
Cynthia Olivera, meanwhile, said she has told officials she and her husband are willing to pay for her to fly to Canada, where she plans to stay in Mississauga with a cousin. Yet there had been no immediate indication when she may be able to travel to Canada.
As she fought back tears, Olivera said to KGTV: 'The only crime I committed is to love this country and to work hard and to provide for my kids.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Iconic city is grinding to a halt as ICE raids send its many migrant workers into hiding
ICE raids across Los Angeles have driven the migrant workforce into hiding, sparking concerns over the sanctuary city's already rocky economic state. As the California city tries to recuperate from wildfires, businesses and developers have revealed they do not have the manpower to get these crucial jobs done. LA has one of the nation's largest immigrant workforces, with nearly 38 percent of workers originating outside the US, according to 2023 data. Estimates from the Public Policy Institute of California suggest than one in 10 workers in the Golden State are undocumented immigrants, while the Migration Policy Institute reports there are roughly 950,000 'unauthorized' residents in LA county. Donald Trump 's immigration crackdown has sparked concern among a significant portion of LA's laborers - especially after a recent bout of raids. 'Papers or not, fear spreads quickly,' real estate consulting firm Hilgard Founding Principal Joshua Baum told Bloomberg. 'When workers do not feel safe showing up to job sites, it slows down not only the pace of construction but also the willingness to propose new projects in the first place.' Immigration agents arrested more than 1,600 people in LA between June 6 and June 22, Bloomberg reported. A prominent raid occurred as recently as the Fourth of July, with the City of West Hollywood condemning one conducted at a car wash that morning. As a result, job sites have been deserted, and construction and renovation projects have been delayed. 'We don't have enough people to staff the work and we're scrambling to figure it out,' Arturo Sneider, the CEO of Primestor, which manages more than 3,000 apartment development projects and $1.2 billion in shopping centers, told Bloomberg. Contributing to what many see as a labor crisis, more than 16,000 structures were wrecked by wildfires from Pacific Palisades to Altadena. The damage may cost LA more than $250 billion, the Los Angeles Times reported. In order to tackle rebuilding the affected areas, the Urban Land Institute reported 70,000 workers will have to be added to LA County's 145,000 construction force by mid-2026. Roughly 14.5 percent of LA construction workers are undocumented, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corp. LA officials, as well as California Governor Gavin Newsom have been fiercely battling federal governments efforts to arrest undocumented immigrants. During the anti-ICE riots that broke out at the start of June, Trump sent 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines to LA to intervene and protect federal property. California filed a lawsuit over the use of the National Guard following the first deployment, claiming Trump 'trampled' the state's sovereignty and sent troops without the governor's permission. Meanwhile, city officials said the demonstrations will ultimately cost taxpayers $32 million. Last week, Trump sued LA for failing to comply with federal agents. LA Mayor Karen Bass vowed to fight against the lawsuit, claiming the raids are causing 'severe economic damage.' 'We know that Los Angeles is the test case, and we will stand strong,' Bass said. 'We do so because the people snatched off city streets and chased through parking lots are our coworkers, our neighbors, our family members, and they are Angelenos.' West Hollywood officials wrote in their Friday statement: 'We reaffirm: our immigrant communities are not threats — they are vital contributors to the social, cultural, and economic fabric of our city, our state, and our nation.' While local officials have pointed fingers at the Trump administration for LA's alarming economic state, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has issued a blunt response. 'If there was any correlation between rampant illegal immigration and a good economy, Biden would have had a booming economy,' DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote to Bloomberg.
Daily Mail
27 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Kristi Noem fires back as Democrats blame Trump's DOGE cuts for deadly Texas floods
The Trump administration is firing back after being accused of contributing to the severity of the Texas floods that took countless lives including dozens of girls at summer camp. Democrats quickly blamed President Donald Trump for crippling a critical agency tasked with alerting Americans to impending natural disasters because of his recent government slashing efforts. DOGE, the Trump administration's cost-cutting effort previously headed by Elon Musk, had been pushing the federal National Weather Service (NWS) to cut jobs. The agency was part of the government-wide Trump administration effort to allow employees the option to retire early with a 'buyout' rather than face potential dismissal. However, it's unclear how many NWS employees took the buyout and it doesn't appear that it would have impacted the alert system in particular. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who was tasked by Trump to assess the damage in Texas over the weekend, fired back at criticisms from Democrats. 'When I got there on Saturday [the] number one question we got asked was, "We were notified, but we only had a couple hours of notice before this flash flood came. Was the National Weather Service proactive? What was the process that was followed?"' Noem said on Fox and Friends. She fiercely defended the agency saying it sent notifications and 'gave as much time as they could with the tools that they have.' 'We actually had staff on the ground - that was more than would have been in the past because of the holiday vacation,' Noem added. She went on to say that the NWS under Trump is getting a major overhaul after being 'neglected' for years. The agency is operating on an 'ancient system that needed to be upgraded' and the 'new technology' will be installed soon, she promised. 'That installation is not complete and that technology is not fully installed. But, the alerts went out,' Noem concluded. Democrat Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday asked a government watchdog to investigate whether any cuts at the NWS affected the forecasting agency's response to catastrophic flooding in Central Texas. Schumer is looking into whether staffing vacancies at the NWS's San Antonio office in particular contributed to 'delays, gaps, or diminished accuracy' in forecasting the flooding. He is specifically scrutinizing the local office's communications with Kerr County officials. The NWS did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Schumer's letter. The agency has defended its forecasting and emergency management as the floods ravaged the area. Texas officials have also criticized the NWS after the catastrophic flood, arguing it failed to warn the public about impending danger. A top three leadership role at the NWS's San Antonio office has been vacant since earlier this year after Paul Yura, the U.S. forecasting agency's warning coordination meteorologist, opens new tab for San Antonio, accepted an offer from the Trump administration to retire. Yura's role was to build relationships with local emergency managers and officials, with the goal of building trust in the community before disaster strikes. The NWS's San Antonio office is responsible for forecasting the area's weather, collecting climate data and warning the public about dangerous conditions. The office issued multiple alerts Thursday afternoon and Friday morning about flash flood risks, according to local meteorologists. 'Even though those messages were issued, it does not mean it got to the people who needed them,' said Erik Nielsen, who studies extreme rain at Texas A&M University. The death toll from the catastrophic floods reached at least 78 on Sunday, including at least 28 children. It is not clear whether the vacancy contributed to NWS's forecasting and alerts.
The National
32 minutes ago
- The National
Keir Starmer's flattery of Donald Trump shows UK's lost global clout
PRIME Minister Keir Starmer has become a cringing embarrassment in his pathetic attempts to ingratiate himself with Donald Trump, the American wannabe dictator and knock-off watch salesman. On Friday, 4 July, Americans celebrated their Independence Day, when their nation rose up to overthrow a deeply corrupt, capricious monarch who put himself above the law. How's that working out for them? On Starmer's recent trip to the G7 summit in Canada, we had had the toe-curling sight of him literally on bended knee before Trump, picking up papers that the president had carelessly scattered on the ground. There's a perfect metaphor for the so-called "special relationship" right there, the one that only exists in the heads of British politicians trying to persuade the public, the UK is something more than a middle ranking European state that trades heavily on nostalgia and exceptionalism. READ MORE: Lisa Nandy aide 'drafted note saying BBC is institutionally antisemitic' As if that wasn't nauseating enough, over the weekend, Starmer told BBC Radio 4 that he understood what the president cares about and that he had bonded with the serial adulterer and adjudicated rapist over shared family values. Maybe Starmer was just trying to save the NHS a bit of money on stomach pumps and vomit inducing medication. Claiming to have bonded with Trump of all people on "shared family values" is a bit of a stretch, even for a politician as mendacious as Starmer. Who knew that enabling genocide was a family value? Family that slays together stays together. The real question here is who is the audience for this utter drivel? Starmer is a confirmed liar who practices deception on an industrial scale, but he's not stupid. On the other hand, Trump is deeply stupid and is highly susceptible to flattery. The saying "flattery gets you nowhere" does not apply to Trump, who has spent his entire life in search of attention, money, and validation. The audience for Starmer's toadery is Trump himself. In publicly appeasing Trump in this way, Starmer is revealing the true powerlessness and isolation of post-Brexit Britain. The UK cannot stand up to Trump, because outside the EU, the UK is uniquely vulnerable to the unpredictable whims of the man-baby in the White House. Traditionally British politicians, steeped in the classical education imbued in English private schools, have liked to portray the so-called special relationship between the UK and the US as rather like the relationship between Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. The Greeks provided intellectual heft, cultural depth, and literacy to the brash upstart Romans, but this conveniently overlooks the reality that Rome had conquered Greece. The Greek scribes who carried out the administrative work of running the Roman Empire and the Greek tutors who taught the children of the Roman patricians were typically enslaved. Starmer might not be enslaved, but his relationship with Trump is all too clearly that of a client and a master. Starmer's role model in his dealings with Trump is the obsequious and lickspittle Dickens character Uriah Heep. Just like Heep, Starmer's insincere sycophancy is a mask for his selfishness and malice. The Scottish Greens have sharply criticised Starmer and accused him of glamourising his relationship with Trump. Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman said that under Donald Trump, the US "is in turmoil." She said: 'His administration is sending innocent people to be tortured in foreign countries, he's just passed a bill that will strip 17 million Americans of their healthcare, he's begun an unprecedented transfer of wealth from the poor to his billionaire supporters, and he has openly called for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza. 'For a UK Prime Minister to sit there and talk about his shared values with this President should set off alarm bells in every institution and every voter in this country. "Cosying up to a racist, misogynistic, climate-wrecking authoritarian like Donald Trump is the last thing we should be doing." READ MORE: How small Scottish parties are reacting to news of a new Corbyn project Chapman said that "if we don't have our values, we have nothing", as she added: 'While values may be a flexible concept to Keir Starmer – if you don't like his values he, opportunistically, has others – it must not be for our country." Meanwhile the murky depths of Starmer's genocide enabling family values continue to be covered up by the British media, which with the exception of this newspaper has been silent on the extent, impact or legal status of the more than 500 surveillance flights over Gaza the RAF has carried out since December 2023. The Ministry of Defence continues to stick with the line that the operations carried out by Shadow R1 aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus are designed purely to assist with the discovery of Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023. If true, this would mean that the British Government puts more effort and resources into freeing Israelis taken captive in Gaza by Hamas than it puts into freeing British citizens taken captive in Iran or Afghanistan, like Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the Iranian-British dual citizen who was detained in Iran from 3 April 2016 to 16 March 2022, or elderly British couple Peter and Barbie Reynolds who were detained by the Taliban in February. However thanks to work by campaigners, independent journalists and pro-Palestine MPs, we know both that the flights are continuing to operate – as they did even throughout the ceasefire – and that spikes in the number of RAF flights have coincided with especially deadly Israeli attacks on Gaza. This suggests that the UK is an active participant in Israel's total war on Gaza and that the UK may be complicit in genocide. READ MORE: IDF soldier speaks out about being ordered to kill unarmed civilians in Gaza This complicity is taking place to the deafening silence of the British media, which has given more considerably more airtime to the death of a young football player in a road traffic accident than it has to the actions that the British Government is taking to assist in the destruction of Gaza and Israel's attacks upon its civilian population. The British media is failing dismally in its duty to hold power to account. We are used to this in Scotland, where the only power that gets held to account is the devolved power of the Scottish Government.
