A mother of two who defied a deportation order on Monday has been granted a stay of deportation.
A Hartford judge granted the stay for Miriam Martinez-Lemus on Wednesday afternoon, according to Catalina Horak, an advocate working on Martinez-Lemus's behalf.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal also confirmed the stay was granted.
Martinez-Lemus was ordered to leave the U.S. for her native Guatemala by 3 p.m. on Monday. She was denied a stay of deportation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement but decided not to get on a plane and instead returned to her home in Stamford.
Martinez-Lemus has two daughters, ages 12 and 10. Her oldest daughter suffers from Type-1 diabetes and an attorney for Martinez-Lemus said care for the girl requires two parents.
Both of her children are American citizens.
A native of Guatemala, Martinez-Lemus left the country and sought asylum in the U.S. in 1992 after political unrest in the country in the 1970s and 1980s.
Local
U.S. Department of Homeland Security U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released a statement about the case on Monday.
“Miriam Martinez-Lemus is (a)citizen of Guatemala. A federal immigration judge granted her voluntary departure in 2002, but she failed to leave the U.S. as instructed and that order automatically changed to a final order of removal.
