Canadian mother reportedly detained in the U.S. as Trump-voting husband feels 'totally blindsided'

A Canadian woman has been detained in the U.S. during her green card interview for being in the U.S. illegally, California-based KGTV reported Thursday.

Cynthia Olivera’s green card interview was on June 13 in California. As she went into the interview room, her husband, Francisco Olivera waited outside. “We feel totally blindsided. I want my vote back,” Francisco told KGTV after Cynthia was detained.

Trump voter feels "blindsided...betrayed" after wife arrested by ICE at green card interview: “I voted for change. But I didn't vote for THIS change.”Last year, Canadian Cynthia Olivera, 45, who’d been in the U.S. since age 10, got a work permit under the Biden administration.… pic.twitter.com/64T7VPlD0j

— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) July 5, 2025

Francisco is a U.S. citizen and self-identified Trump voter. The U.S. president’s promises to deport dangerous criminals appealed to the couple but they didn’t think Cynthia’s lack of legal U.S. status would be a problem — no criminal charges were found under Cynthia’s name by KGTV. “The U.S. is my country,” Cynthia told KGTV from an immigration detention centre in El Paso, Texas. “That’s where I met my husband. That’s where I went to high school, junior high, elementary. That’s where I had my kids,” she continued.

The 45-year-old was born in Canada and taken to the U.S. by her parents when she was 10 years old. In 1999, when Cynthia was 19 years old, U.S. border officials determined she was living in the country without a legal status and an order was obtained to deport her.

After being removed, Cynthia returned within a few months to the U.S. by driving to San Diego from Mexico, The Guardian reports. “They didn’t ask me for my citizenship – they didn’t do nothing. They just waved me in,” Cynthia told KGTV.

For the next 25 years, Cynthia is reported to have worked in Los Angeles where she paid her taxes and provided for her family. She has three children who were born in the U.S. As she navigated the onerous task of obtaining a green card, she was granted a permit by the Biden administration in 2024 that allowed her to work legally in the U.S.

“The U.S. is my country. That's where I met my husband. That's where I went to high school, junior high, elementary. That’s where I had my kids,” Cynthia Olivera, 45, said in a tearful interview from an immigration detention center in El Paso, Texas. https://t.co/IHcKAo8UX4

— ABC 10News San Diego (@10News) July 4, 2025

Meanwhile, the Trump administration in an emailed statement referred to Cynthia as an “illegal alien from Canada,” The Guardian reports.

In a statement to Newsweek , the spokesperson said Cynthia was “previously deported and chose to ignore our law and again illegally entered the country.” The statement further noted that “re-entering the U.S. without permission after being deported is a felony, and it said Olivera would remain in Ice’s custody pending removal to Canada,” Newsweek reports.

Cynthia reportedly told officials that the couple can pay for her to fly to Canada, where she would live with a cousin in Mississauga, Ontario. “Despite offering to pay for her own flight back to Canada and waive her rights to a bond hearing, she remains locked up at an ICE detention facility in El Paso, Texas,” reads a petition on change.org .

The Canadian government told KGTV that it is aware of Cynthia’s case but cannot intervene because “every country or territory decides who can enter or exit through its borders,” Guardian reports.

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