INDIANAPOLIS -- An Indianapolis mother of two doesn't want to leave America in handcuffs, and will instead return to Mexico on her own.
Erika Fierro, a 2001 Beech Grove High School graduate has been told she must leave the United States. She is in a race to sell or donate everything she owns before making the journey south. Her family pictures and heirlooms stay, but tables and strollers are going.
Her two children are 8 and 3.
"It's hard right now," she said. "My son doesn't want me to touch his room."
Since April, Fierro has been checking in every two weeks with immigration representatives. Her attempts to stay have all been rejected, and she wears an electronic ankle bracelet until she arrives at the border. Fierro's husband, Jesus, has already been deported.
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Their American-born children are waiting to get their US passports before she decides to go back to Mexico. She wants the option to send her children back to Indiana if Mexico proves unstable.
"My kids need me and I'd rather do things the right way -- just leave," Fierro said. "So we will do it voluntarily."
Some of Fierro's siblings brought to the country did get legal status, but not all of them. Immigration officials have attempted to get Fierro to give up the whereabouts of her siblings. She has declined.
Fierro has donated her family vehicles to members of her church parish and to a charity that helps children with cancer. She said she's conflicted -- she'd rather donate her belongings, but every sale will support her family's survival in a country she hasn't seen since she was 5. Her parents, who were illegal immigrants, brought her over to the United States when she was 5, so she's not eligible for DACA.
The yard sale will be Friday or Saturday near Good Shepherd Catholic Church.
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