HAMILTON, Ohio -- Dozens rallied in front of the Butler County Courthouse Saturday afternoon to show support for a Fairfield mother who could be deported Tuesday.
Officials moved Maribel Trujillo from the Butler County Jail to the Morrow County Jail near Columbus early Friday morning, according to her priest, Rev. Mike Pucke of St. Julie Billiart Church in Hamilton.
Pucke said officials moved Trujillo to Morrow County because it’s close to the airport in Columbus.
Dozens rallied in support of Maribel Trujillo, the Fairfield mother of four who faces deportation.
University of Cincinnati Chaplain Amina Darwish spoke at the rally in an effort to reunite Trujillo’s family.
“I think it’s really important for the family and for the community to know that people are standing behind them and they’re not going through this by themselves and they’re not doing it alone,” Darwish said.
Federal agents picked up Trujillo, who was granted a yearlong work permit in July, near her mobile home on Wednesday. Pucke says her detention has devastated her family, especially her children.
"The fact is the children never had a chance to say goodbye to her," he said.
MORE:Fairfield mother Maribel Trujillo moved closer to deportation, pastor says
Hamilton County GOP Chair Alex Triantafilou supports President Trump’s stance on immigration. He supports immigration, he said, as long as it is done legally.
“This is an issue that our president ran on, and the voters who elected him were clear when they elected him that they they wanted a tough stance on illegal immigration,” Triantafilou said.
But Henry Folgoso, of First United Methodist Church in Middletown, said families should be together regardless of citizenship.
“We’re all in this together,” Folgoso said. “I mean, we’re all families. We’re part of a bigger community.”
Grace Carr attended the rally, she said, because she does not support deportation.
Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones, who housed Trujillo for a day, said the law should not be selectively enforced.
"Lady Justice is supposed to be blind. It's not supposed to pick who they enforce the law on or who they don't," Jones said.
The only way to slow illegal immigration, Triantafilou said, is to secure the border.
“We need a secure border, and we need to make sure illegal immigration slows to a trickle if at all,” he said.
But Darwish said immigration reform is what’s needed to keep families like Trujillo’s together.
“This is still about a family that’s being torn apart, and it’s unjustly being torn apart,” Darwish said.
