A single father of six young American children has been deported from the United States to Mexico, following a significant shift in immigration enforcement policy under the Trump administration. The case underscores the precarious situation facing thousands with pending victim-based visa applications.
A Family Torn Apart at the School Gates
In a scene that would tear any family apart, Rosalio Vasquez Meave was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in September. The arrest occurred moments after he had dropped his six children, all US citizens under the age of 16, at their school in Oklahoma.
Vasquez Meave, who had lived in the US for 34 years and was his children's sole caretaker, reportedly tried to explain his situation to the agents. He claims his pleas fell on deaf ears. "They didn't care," he told The Dallas Morning News.
His ordeal culminated on November 24, when he was removed from the country and sent to Matamoros, Mexico—a border city just south of Texas. The deportation triggered an agonising three-month separation from his children, a period that only ended in early December when the family was reunited in Mexico.
The Crucial Policy Change and Pending Visa
What makes Vasquez Meave's deportation particularly striking is that he was in the midst of a legal process to secure his status. He had applied for a visa under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) in 2023.
This type of visa provides a pathway to a green card for undocumented immigrants who have suffered domestic violence at the hands of a US citizen spouse. Vasquez Meave applied based on issues with his ex-wife, from whom he divorced four years ago and to whom he was married for 11 years.
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) found his application credible, met basic requirements, and granted him a work permit while his case was pending—a decision upheld in 2024 and again in April. With typical wait times exceeding three years, approval could have come as soon as next year.
However, the landscape changed dramatically in February. President Donald Trump rescinded a 2021 Biden-era policy that instructed ICE to use prosecutorial discretion for individuals with pending applications under VAWA and similar laws.
A subsequent memo to ICE agents stated they were "not required" to seek evidence suggesting someone was a crime victim or consider it a positive factor in enforcement decisions. It also ended the routine practice of requesting expedited adjudications from USCIS.
Broader Implications and a Life Upended
This policy reversal places more than 100,000 people with pending VAWA applications in a newly vulnerable position, according to immigration advocates. Vasquez Meave's attorney, Michelle Edstrom, interprets his removal as a signal of intent. "They're just going after anybody and everybody is what I see, no matter if they have applications pending or not," she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, countered that pending VAWA applications "do not confer legal status" and asserted Vasquez Meave had received "full due process."
Vasquez Meave's long history in America adds layers to the case. After initially living in the US illegally for nine years, he returned to Mexico in 2000 following a family death. Aged 23, he attempted to re-enter with a fraudulent green card he claims he didn't know was illegitimate, losing $600 in the process. Arrested at the port of entry, he later crossed the border illegally and returned to Oklahoma.
There, he built a life over the next 25 years, working as a contractor and eventually running his own roofing and painting business. He married, had six children, and was awarded full custody after divorcing his wife due to her substance abuse issues. Now, that life has been dismantled, leaving a father and his six American children navigating an uncertain future from across a border.
