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UMD Student, High School Valedictorian, Detained With Mother After Baltimore Immigration Check-In
Maria Flores, a University of Maryland student and former high school valedictorian, was taken into immigration custody along with her mother after a routine check-in in Baltimore. Both are now being held in Louisiana as supporters, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen, demand their release.
COLLEGE PARK, Md. â A University of Maryland student who graduated as her high school's valedictorian is being held in immigration detention along with her mother after the two attended a scheduled check-in at a Baltimore immigration facility last week and did not walk out.
Maria Flores, who came to the United States from her native country at age 9, was detained along with her mother following the appointment, according to her boyfriend, Cesar Saavedra. Both are now being held in Louisiana.
Saavedra said that during the check-in, officials asked Flores whether she wanted to leave or remain with her mother. Not fully grasping the situation, she chose to stay with her mother, and was taken into custody minutes later.
"Why would a valedictorian student, obviously going to college, doing everything right and then get detained with her mother?" Saavedra said. "I feel like that should not be what's going on right now in the country at the moment."
Flores graduated at the top of her class from Parkdale High School in Prince George's County and delivered a speech at this year's commencement ceremony. In those remarks, she reflected on the upheaval of her childhood arrival.
"At the age of 9, like many other children, I faced the challenge of starting over," she said. "I was the new girl who struggled to understand the words and had to wait for someone to translate even the simplest instructions."
She earned a full scholarship to the University of Maryland and planned to study public health with the goal of becoming a doctor.
Saavedra has launched an online fundraiser to help cover legal costs and said it has raised more than $25,000. He said Flores and her mother, along with others caught up in recent immigration enforcement operations, do not deserve what is happening to them.
"I know it's probably not just us, but a lot of other people are going through the same thing, doing everything right in the country, and then, they're the ones being detained," he said.
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., issued a statement condemning the detention and said he is seeking answers.
"Detaining Maria Flores Garcia â a former high school valedictorian and current student at the University of Maryland â puts a clear lie to ICE's claim that they are going after 'the worst of the worst,'" Van Hollen said. "They are not. They are going after whoever they please, and it's clear they're not making our communities any safer."
The senator added that he will "continue to push back against ICE's inhumane tactics and lawlessness" and is "seeking immediate answers on Maria's detention, including working to get her released."
A request for comment from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not yet been answered.
The University of Maryland said it is aware of the situation and is working to provide resources where possible.
The case has drawn attention in Prince George's County and College Park, where Flores was seen as a model of academic achievement and community promise. Her supporters argue that her detention â alongside her mother, at a routine appointment â raises broader questions about how immigration enforcement is being carried out in Maryland and across the country.