A New Jersey mother who has lived in the United States for three decades was deported to Mexico, leaving behind her 17-year-old daughter.Patricia Balbuena Soto, a longtime resident, had lived in the U.S. since she was 19 years old, her daughter said. Before her deportation, she worked as a waitress at a local restaurant, The Windjammer, in Somers Point.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Newsweek that the Atlantic City Police Department charged Balbuena Soto with criminal mischief for damage to private property, home invasion burglary with intent to inflict harm, possession of a weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon, and conspiracy to commit home invasion burglary. Her daughter, Allison Garcia, said her mother was taken into custody on July 24 this year after police arrived at her workplace. “She was arrested at 5:10 p.m., just minutes after she started her shift,” Garcia told Newsweek in an interview....Garcia said she was not notified by the jail and only learned of her mother’s detention when a co-worker called her. DHS said ICE arrested Balbuena Soto on July 25.Balbuena Soto was able to briefly call Garcia and confirm she had been transferred to the Elizabeth Detention Center, an ICE facility in New Jersey.About a week later, Garcia said she lost contact with her mother again. Eventually, she received a three-minute phone call in which her mother reported being transferred to Port Isabel Detention Center in Texas. Garcia accused the government of denying her mother her right to due process and access to basic legal protections while in ICE custody. She said Balbuena Soto was not provided any hearings and was not allowed to meet with the lawyer Garcia had retained.“I paid literally my entire college fund for a lawyer for her and she actually was not allowed to even see him,” Garcia said.She also claimed that her mother was prevented from contacting the Mexican consulate during her detention.DHS said Balbuena Soto had a prior conviction for shoplifting, had been removed from the U.S. four times previously, and illegally reentered the country a fifth time, which constitutes a felony. “She had a final order of removal and was deported on August 5, 2025,” Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for DHS told Newsweek.The Trump administration is carrying out widespread immigration arrests and removals as part of a hardline mass deportation policy. The White House says anyone living in the country without legal status is considered by the administration to be a criminal. Balbuena Soto was removed from the country roughly a week and a half after her arrest. She was flown by plane to Mexico, where she is now living with extended family in Cuauhtla. Garcia said her mother told her detainees on the flight were handcuffed and shackled.The incident has left her daughter reeling.“I'm all alone. I don't have anybody. I can't go anywhere. I have to finish high school. I don't have any other family other than my mom,” she said. Garcia’s two older brothers, ages 32 and 23, are both U.S. citizens and live in Texas. Her father, who remains in New Jersey, is undocumented, and is separated from Garcia’s mother.