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Fairfield mother of 4 welcomed home with prayer service after deportation

130 views · Published 28 September 2018 · 3:03 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2018 · News & Politics

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HAMILTON, Ohio (WKRC) - A Fairfield mother ripped from her family was welcomed home by her second family at the St. Julie Billiart Church in Hamilton Tuesday night, and she had a message to share with everyone.

Maribel Trujillo-Diaz began living in the United States in 2002 but was deported in 2017 to Mexico in a case that drew national attention. She's now back in the country for a new hearing. 

Trujillo-Diaz told the church and her supporters that God got through those 17 months in Mexico away from her family. Through prayer, she felt that her family was being watched over, and that kept her spirits high in the belief she'd see them again.

St. Julie Billiart is a place where Trujillo-Diaz spent a lot of time. It's a safe place for her and the place where her allies welcomed her home as she continues to fight to stay in the U.S., a country where all four of her children were born. They are now ages 2, 12, 14 and 16.

Trujillo-Diaz looks a little different than before her deportation. Her hair is shorter, but her smile and her faith have not changed. Tuesday night, she spoke to the crowd in Spanish and in English through interpreter Karla Eysoldt.

"More than anything, first of all, I want to thank my God for being here with my family and all of you," Trujillo-Diaz said. "Now, I believe that the Lord is strengthening my family to heal and restore us. The Lord performed this miracle for us so that the whole world knows that God is alive."

Trujillo-Diaz told the church she arrived in Detroit two weeks ago with no luggage, only prayer books she used those 17 months in Mexico. Now, she will able to stay here with her family until a hearing takes place. An appeals court said the Board of Immigration Appeals did not properly investigate into Trujillo-Diaz's claims that her life is in danger in Mexico.

"I don't have adequate words to thank my lawyers Katie Kirsh and Emily Brown and CLINIC, an organization that helps them. I'm greatly thankful to Archbishop Dennis and support groups like the Amos Project," Trujillo-Diaz said.

Trujillo-Diaz's attorneys said there will be a hearing in the summer of 2019 to set future dates in the case. But because of a backlog of cases, it will take years before her case is heard.

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