Immigrant rights activist targeted for deportation can stay

By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press

SEATTLE (AP) — An immigrant rights activist who had been facing deportation says she can now remain in the U.S., after the Department of Homeland Security agreed to drop her case. Maru Mora Villalpando, a Mexico City native who has been in the U.S. since 1996, said Tuesday that an immigration judge last week approved the decision. Mora Villalpando argued that the Trump administration targeted her for deportation because she advocates on behalf of detained immigrants at the privately run Northwest detention center in Tacoma. ICE officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment. President Joe Biden has urged the agency to focus on cases that involve public safety or national security.