U.S. citizen Cindy Garcia on Tuesday defended the Trump administration's decision to deport her husband, Jorge, saying she can't fault President Donald Trump for executing the laws of the land.
Garcia appeared on CNN to talk about her husband's current life in Mexico and what her next steps would be with his case, which prompted her to advocate changes to immigration laws. Host Brooke Baldwin noted Garcia wasn't upset at government agents and asked her what Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) had said to her about her husband.
"Yes, I am not upset at our government due to the fact that I am a U.S. citizen and that our laws come first," Garcia said. "Our laws are just broken and need to be fixed, but I can't be mad at Trump for doing his job because that is his job to protect us, as U.S. citizens, from criminals. The only thing is my husband was not a criminal and those are the laws that need to be fixed because they are broken for the people ... brought as children, doing the right thing, and have never committed a crime."
"For the criminals that have come here illegally, they need to go back," Garcia added.
Baldwin followed up by asking whether Garcia has spoken to the White House about her husband's case.
"No, at this time I have not had any news from the White House. We are in the process of trying to get our appointment in Juarez to see what [Citizenship and Immigration Service's] decision is when we go. Hopefully it's within the next month or so and that's what we are hoping for and we are hoping for good news when we go down there," Garcia said.
Garcia's husband of fifteen years was escorted by immigration agents through the security gates at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in January and deported to Mexico after he spent nearly three decades living in Michigan and raising a family.
Garcia's wife was invited by Rep. Debbie Dingell (D., Mich.) to attend Trump's State of the Union address in late January.
"She said she was saddened to see what was going on with my husband," Garcia told the Washington Post. "When she called me and told me, I was overwhelmed."