Former MPS teacher's aide joins federal lawsuit against ICE, DHS
EL SALVADOR (CBS58) -- Yessenia Ruano, the Milwaukee Public Schools or MPS teacher's aide who was forced to self-deport this summer, is speaking out after joining in on a federal lawsuit against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security.
Ruano says she wants justice: for her, her daughters and for other immigrants. The lawsuit, filed in California, has several immigrants facing similar situations as plaintiffs, including Ruano.
We have to raise our voices. I'm already here, I have nothing to lose. The no has already won. We're fighting for a yes. It's not for me, but for my daughters, for the community that is there.
It alleges that ICE is violating the law by detaining and deporting immigrants who are victims of crime, without due process.
On June 17, Ruano left for El Salvador with her twin daughters, the same country she fled in 2011 as a victim of human trafficking. She said she was forced to self-deport, despite an ongoing visa application.
This is just one of several cases across the United States - in a reversal of decades-worth of policies, protecting victims. Some of those policies include the “to address the widespread problem that many noncitizens stayed in abusive relationships because an abusive family member held the key to their permanent immigration status in the United States." There was also the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, the 2011 policy regarding prosecutorial discretion in T and U visa cases, and the 2021 Directive with a "Victim-Centered" Approach.
The change is due to guidance from President Donald Trump to "faithfully execute the immigration laws". The lawsuit however, claims "the 2025 guidance reverses these decades of agency practice … replacing them with a directive that greenlights their detention and removal as a routine matter," describing current standards as "unlawful policies".
Ruano says she misses her community in Milwaukee, a place she's called home for 14 years. But she doesn't regret her decision, "I felt persecution with fear that the next day maybe ICE changed circumstances and they think 'oh we could detain Yessenia.' Now I feel more relaxed, more at peace."
Ruano's 10-year-old twins, who have only known Wisconsin, feel the biggest change, "they have cried, they have asked me, 'Mommy, when are we going to go back?' until, perhaps, you are adults because with the government as it is now, there is no hope. And it is better to be safe than to be in a country where you are persecuted," shared Ruano. She said the girls are in therapy and are working as a family to better connect to their new home.
Ruano is now taking gastronomy classes in El Salvador and living with her mother-in-law while they work on building a new home.
We've reached out to ICE and DHS for comment but have not heard back yet.
Ruano says her T-Visa is still under review. The process that typically would take four months is now expected to take four years. She hopes this lawsuit goes in her favor and she's able to return to Milwaukee with her family.