“I Want My Vote Back”: Family Shaken as ICE Detains Trump-Supporting Mother

A Californian mom’s arrest during a green-card interview spotlights the unexpected reach of President Trump’s immigration crackdown

Hey Small Biters,

Cynthia Olivera had spent nearly her entire life in the United States. Brought from Canada as a child, she built a life in Los Angeles—raising three American-born children, contributing to her community, and more recently working legally under a permit granted during the Biden administration. On July 6, she arrived for what she believed would be a standard green card interview with immigration officials. Instead, she was arrested by ICE and placed in detention in El Paso, Texas.

Her story might have slipped into the shadows of countless other quiet deportations if not for one detail: her family’s long-standing support for Donald Trump. Her husband, Francisco, had voted for the former president twice, believing that Trump’s immigration policies targeted “criminals” and “gang members”—not families like his. In a moment of dismay after Cynthia’s detention, he told reporters, “I want my vote back.”

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Immigration authorities cite a 1999 deportation order as the legal basis for Cynthia’s arrest. She had returned to the U.S. shortly after that removal order—technically a felony re-entry under immigration law. But until recently, cases like hers, especially involving non-violent individuals with decades of American life and U.S. citizen children, were often handled through deferred action or reprieve.