Camila Munoz, a Peruvian who was detained by federal immigration authorities, said she still believes in President Donald Trump's migrant policies, even after she was forced to spend two months in detention.
Her husband, Bradley Bartell, who voted for Trump, also said he supports the president's calls for deportations, despite her arrest, Newsweek reported Thursday.
"I trust in the process that he's doing this to make the country a safer place, safe for me and for the immigrants," said Munoz, who was released in Louisiana last week after 49 days in detention.
Munoz initially arrived in Wisconsin Dells, a city in the Badger State, on a work-study visa in 2019, but could not return home when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Her visa expired during that time, when she also met Bartell.
Pandemic restrictions kept them from having a honeymoon, so this past February they traveled to Puerto Rico for a belated celebration. But when returning to the U.S. mainland, Munoz was stopped by immigration agents who questioned her citizenship status and was detained when she told them she was in the process of obtaining her green card.
She told Newsweek that the detention facility she was sent to for eight weeks was challenging, particularly living among women who were locked up and had children waiting for them.
"I cannot imagine how the other women are facing detention with their kids outside waiting for them," Munoz said. "It's something that got me scared, meeting women who were like six, seven, or eight months in detention."
And while she says she still trusts the Trump immigration agenda, she is not happy with the slow pace of immigration court proceedings that make asylum seekers wait for years for a decision.
"I was feeling really frustrated because if you want to get deported or something, you still have to wait for the judge. They will determine if you are getting deported or continuing detention," Munoz said. "You're stuck in detention because you have to wait till they decide."
Still, Munoz said she thinks Trump is "super intelligent."
"If this is a process to make the country a safer place, I understand him. The only thing that I will ask of the government is to be quicker with the process," she said, adding that she is not afraid of being deported.
"I was scared because that was an option, but now that I'm out, my paperwork is still in process and pending," she said. "If that's the option I have, I have to just accept what the government is telling me."
Her husband said he believes there are flaws about how the administration is carrying out its policies, calling it "unfortunate" that a "broad sweep" is being done.
He said he has not changed his mind on Trump, however.
"The problem is, over the last four years, a lot of individuals have come here without registering with the American government," said Bartell. "We don't want gang members or cartel members here and stuff like that. Gang and cartel members are not going to turn themselves in to be deported."
He said he also thinks the system worked out well in his wife's case, as "they weren't looking to deport her at all."
"A lot of what this immigration case is showing is that she's a valuable member of society. She's not going to cause any trouble, you know, and she wants to be a legal permanent resident," said Bartell. "There's always concern in the back of your head, there's always a possibility, but the judge's words have given a good amount of reassurance that we'll be able to continue this process as we were before her detention."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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