Yessenia Ruano, a beloved Milwaukee Public Schools teacher's aide, took a heart-wrenching step on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, when she self-deported to El Salvador with her 10-year-old twin daughters. The girls, Elizabeth and Paola, were born in Milwaukee and are U.S. citizens, but Ruano chose to leave the country with them rather than face forced removal by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under the current administration.
Ruano's departure marked the end of a 14-year journey in the United States, where she built a life rooted deeply in the Milwaukee community. She worked at the Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes, a bilingual school within the district, as a teacher's aide supporting kindergarten classrooms. Her involvement extended beyond her job; she owned her own home, paid taxes, and was actively engaged in community life.
Her attorney, Marc Christopher, confirmed that Ruano's decision to self-deport was driven by ICE's denial of an emergency stay request on June 13, 2025, which would have halted her deportation while her application for a T-visa was pending. The T-visa is designated for survivors of human trafficking, a status Ruano was pursuing. ICE's terse rationale for denying the stay was that she "did not warrant a favorable exercise of discretion." Christopher expressed disbelief at the decision, stating, "Quite frankly, if she doesn’t warrant it, I don’t know who does." Ruano has no criminal record and fled El Salvador in 2011 to escape gang violence after a local gang murdered her brother.
During a May 30 hearing, ICE officials directed Ruano to self-deport by June 3, 2025. Her attorneys filed for an emergency stay following this order, which allowed her to remain in the U.S. for several more weeks while awaiting a decision. However, Christopher noted that under the current Trump administration, few emergency stays are granted, a stark contrast to previous administrations. "I am more than positive that she would have been able to remain in the U.S. while the T-visa was pending... under previous administrations," he said.
Ruano's case has become emblematic of the broader challenges faced by many immigrants under the Trump administration's immigration policies. Despite her deep community ties and lack of criminal history, she was swept up in a deportation effort that critics say targets not only serious offenders but also hardworking individuals contributing to society.
U.S. Representative Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) voiced her disappointment in ICE's decision, calling it "outright cruel to force a human trafficking victim to return to the place she was fleeing from." Moore highlighted that T-visas are intended for individuals like Ruano but lamented that she "wasn’t even given the chance to have her case heard."
Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley also condemned the deportation, emphasizing on social media that "deporting valued members of our community who are raising and educating our kids, assisting law enforcement in their important work, and giving back to our neighborhoods should alarm us all. It is wrong and unjust." Crowley criticized the Trump administration for targeting "the very people who contribute the most — our neighbors, coworkers, our friends." He warned that the country is turning its back on its most vulnerable and that due process is under attack nationwide.
Earlier in June, the Milwaukee Common Council released a statement opposing Ruano's deportation and marked 14 minutes of silence to honor her 14 years in the United States. The council described Ruano as "a wife with two Milwaukee-born daughters, an educator, a volunteer, and a contributing member of our society." Their statement underscored the broken state of the U.S. immigration system and criticized the federal administration for prioritizing scapegoating over meaningful reform.
Ruano's fight for legal status has been long and costly. Before Christopher took over her case about two months ago, she had already paid over $14,000 in legal fees to a team of Ohio-based attorneys to file her T-visa application. Christopher highlighted the financial and emotional toll such processes impose on individuals like Ruano. "To ask a teacher’s aide who’s raising two 10-year-old girls to come up with $14,000, it’s a large ask," he said. He also pointed out the difficulty in expecting applicants to navigate a system that takes years and costs thousands of dollars.
On the morning of her departure, Ruano was surrounded by friends, family, colleagues from the Alba School where she worked, and activists from Voces de la Frontera. She expressed a "tornado of emotion," mixing sorrow with gratitude. "I have a tornado inside," she told reporters at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport. "I feel love for my community, for bosses and everyone who supported me through the process."
Before boarding her flight, Ruano and her daughters joined hands with supporters in a prayer for a safe journey. She will be living with her mother in the Salvadoran countryside, whom she has not seen in 14 years. Ruano acknowledged the challenges ahead, including finding a school for her daughters and employment for herself, but also expressed some relief at escaping the limbo of annual ICE check-ins and legal uncertainty. "I will feel a little peace, not fighting every year, going to check-ins with ICE," she said.
Sarah Weintraub, a special education teacher at Academia de Lenguaje y Bellas Artes and a close friend, lamented the loss to the school community. "The school will be missing a part of its family come September," she said. Weintraub emphasized that Ruano’s situation was not a choice but a consequence of a "very broken, very painful immigration system."
Christine Neumann-Ortiz, executive director of Voces de la Frontera, praised Ruano’s resilience and courage, calling her a hero in the fight for immigration reform. Neumann-Ortiz pointed to Ruano’s story as a symbol of congressional failure, stating, "The failure of our Congress, by both parties, to prioritize humane immigration reform." She criticized ICE’s focus on meeting deportation quotas over community safety, noting the agency’s leadership under Stephen Miller and Donald Trump.
Ruano’s departure highlights the human cost of immigration policies that often overlook the nuances of individual cases. Her story is a poignant reminder of the complexities faced by immigrants striving to build better lives amid a system fraught with obstacles and uncertainties. While she leaves Milwaukee behind, Ruano holds onto hope. "I do not lose hope that God will allow me to return with the right tools and strength," she said, embodying a spirit of resilience that has inspired many.
