Updated May 6, 2025, 5:09 p.m. CTA pregnant Guatemalan woman, Erika Mateo, was rescued by Border Patrol after becoming lost in the Arizona desert.Mateo gave birth to a healthy baby girl at Tucson Medical Center before being released, with the process to petition for asylum begun in her case.Her situation highlights the challenges faced by asylum seekers under current immigration policies.Erika Mateo resigned herself to the grim reality that she would die in the desert. But worse was the thought of losing her unborn daughter. She was nearing the final month of her pregnancy and wandering through the Sonoran Desert south of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 24-year-old had been separated from her group because she couldn’t keep up. “Some of them tried to help me, but they were also afraid of being caught,” Mateo told an Arizona Republic reporter in a Phoenix hotel room shortly after her release from Department of Homeland Security custody. “I just couldn’t keep up anymore. They were too fast. That’s when I suddenly found myself lost, not knowing where to walk or where the path was,” she said, speaking in Spanish. “Estaba ahi pues perdida.” She was lost. She had traveled a long distance from her home in Guatemala, now more than 2,000 miles away from the maze she was traversing to enter the United States. Mateo left behind a large family: her mother and father as well as her brothers and sisters. She remained in contact with them along her journey. Mateo did not say why she left her home country. Her attorney told The Republic her migration was "for fear of violence.” “I walked and walked, but everything looked the same. It was like walking in place,” Mateo said. She was frantic. “I would burst into tears pleading with God to help me find a way or for someone to find me.” As night fell, she searched for refuge anywhere in the unforgiving desert. Mateo had been provided with a blanket for her journey, which proved useful when the temperatures dipped below 50 degrees. She feared being attacked by coyotes, snakes or any other animals hunting in the moonlight. But the stillness of the desert was what she feared most, Mateo said. “The silence was horrible. I couldn’t hear anything,” she said. Mateo walked for two days in the desert, hoping to reach a highway to wave down help. On her second day, she reached the border wall in a remote part of southwestern Arizona near Sasabe. She walked along the fence until she found a gap that allowed her to cross into America. Mateo continued walking on the path parallel to the border, but no one was around, she said. “I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was hungry. So I sat down,” she said. Mateo could no longer get up. Pains in her stomach began soon after. “I gave up. This was as far as I was going to make it.” “Asi me tocaba,” she said. This is how it ends for me, she told herself. Instead, Mateo was found by Border Patrol agents near the fence, close to an area referred to as Tres Bellotas Ranch, approximately 74 miles from Tucson. Mateo said she remembered getting into the Border Patrol car, where she was given a bottle of water. From there, she was taken to be fingerprinted and processed, then to a detention center, she said. She was fed upon arrival and seen by medical staff. She was given a room with a bed. When she woke up the next day, she began to feel pains, she said. It was the baby coming. Mateo notified the federal officers, and she was transported to Tucson Medical Center, where she was told she had suffered significant dehydration while lost in the desert. “I was told that I was at risk of losing my unborn child,” Mateo said. She was given the option to induce labor and accepted. Baby Emily was born healthy, weighing 6 pounds, in the evening on April 30. Mateo expressed relief and happiness at becoming a mother. “I know that I risked her life, but she is doing well,” she said, studying her newborn’s tiny features. After giving birth, Mateo remained in the hospital in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, with agents stationed at her hospital room door. She had given birth to a U.S. citizen child, but the circumstances surrounding her entry into the country made her future uncertain, as she faced the risk of swift deportation under the Trump administration’s “expedited removal” policy. “I was scared that they would take away my baby, so I never separated myself from her,” Mateo said. “They told me the decision was up to me.” Over the next 72 hours, Mateo’s story would spark community outrage, draw international attention and push local elected officials to engage in discussions aimed at preventing Mateo from facing the difficult choice between leaving the United States hastily with her newborn or being separated from her child, leaving her under state care. Mateo avoided expedited deportation proceedings, becoming one of a handful of people to receive a “Notice to Appear” from the Border Patrol – the first step in the process to petition for asylum, which has been rarely afforded since President Donald Trump returned to office. In February and March, the first two complete months of this Trump administration, only three individuals have been issued this form after being held in Border Patrol custody, as reported by CBP’s open data portal. The figures for April remain undisclosed. By comparison, in December, the last full month of President Joe Biden’s tenure in office, more than 7,000 Notices to Appear were issued. Stymied at the hospital: ‘I can't give you a signed G-28’ The call came through on May 1 on the rapid response line established by a coalition of pro-immigrant activists in Tucson.Volunteers have managed dozens of calls for help from community members affected by the rise in federal immigration law enforcement under the Trump administration. Information came from a staff member at Tucson Medical Center that a woman who had just given birth and was in Border Patrol custody. Shortly after, Luis Campos, a Tucson-based immigration attorney, became aware of the situation. He received the phone numbers of loved ones that Mateo had written down and carried with her, as provided by her advocate at TMC.One of them was her mother in Guatemala. "I called the family back in Guatemala. They told me, 'Please help, please represent her," Campos told The Republic on May 2. Campos got a message through to Mateo asking her if she wanted his legal services and whether she wanted him to visit her in the hospital, to which she agreed. He took on Mateo's case pro bono.At the hospital, he introduced himself to the guard on duty, a Department of Homeland Security officer, Campos said. The officer told Campos that “he would not be allowed access to the client” and added that no friends or family were allowed, “much less an attorney.” Campos was then asked whether he had the correct paperwork to see Mateo. The federal officers told him he needed a signed G-28 form identifying him as the woman's lawyer before he could see her, Campos said. The G-28 is a form used to authorize a legal representative to act on behalf of a person in immigration matters."I said I got the paperwork, but obviously I need to see her so she can sign the document. I can't give you a signed G-28 because you're not giving me access to my client," Campos said. A suggestion to have a doctor deliver the G-28 form to the woman was denied. Meetings with various hospital administrators and lawyers from the hospital ensued. "At the end, they reviewed their policy and deferred to the government. They rolled over, and I had no recourse but to leave," Campos said. Tucson Medical Center did not release any information to Campos or the public due to “patient privacy” concerns, according to an email from a hospital spokesperson on May 5. “Tucson Medical Center does not collect or require documented status to receive care at our hospital or clinics,” the spokesperson wrote. “It is not our role or responsibility to collect or share information about immigration status.” The hospital operates under a federal law — the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act — which ensures individuals are evaluated for emergency medical care regardless of ability to pay, the spokesperson said. “We will comply with lawful orders or warrants, but our property, since it is private, will not be used for random sweeps or other general investigative purposes,” the spokesperson said. The hospital declined to comment further on its decision to prevent the delivery of the G-28 document to Mateo for her signature. CBP said in a statement no statutory right existed to an attorney in immigration proceedings until a “Notice to Appear” was issued. Once the woman’s processing was complete and a notice to appear was issued, she would get the opportunity to contact an attorney, the statement said. “At all times, agents followed the law and adhered to CBP procedures. No entitlements were denied," the statement said. The Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants – whether they have a temporary or permanent protective status or not – began on Day One of the president’s return to the Oval Office. By declaring an “invasion” at the southwest border, Trump was able to suspend the entry of people coming into the country. Included in the executive order was a suspension of asylum, leaving people seeking refuge in the U.S. with little to no pathway to request protection in America. Within the country's interior, Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been given directives to increase its enforcement actions to fulfill the president’s campaign promise of mass deportations. Without access to Mateo, Campos felt he had no other recourse but to go public, describing what he called a “denial of the Fifth Amendment constitutional right to speak to a lawyer” and due process. 'We're standing up. Tucson is resisting’ Margaret Smith, a mother of five, said two of her children were born at the Tucson Medical Center, where Mateo gave birth. It’s not far from where she lives now. "I'm training to be a chaplain, so I may work in that hospital someday," she said on May 2.Smith is active in the humanitarian movement in Tucson, which organized an action for this year’s May Day. "I found out about this case at the May Day march, where Luis, the attorney, spoke about it," she said. As a former immigration paralegal, she became interested. "I became quite concerned when I found out that the child and woman had been disappeared," Smith said.By midday May 2, Campos had still been unable to make direct contact with Mateo after being denied entry at TMC. Communication was only occurring through a concerned hospital staff member, who gave intermittent updates on Mateo and her baby. The situation left Smith feeling disappointed in the hospital, she said. "I actually am strongly considering not recommending people give birth there anymore," Smith said. "I'm considering not wanting to work there." Smith and hundreds of others showed up May 3 to protest Campos being denied access to Mateo, as well as changes made by the Trump administration to U.S. immigration and asylum policies. “We have a very active community here. You know, being a border city, we're trying to help people who have been affected by the new strict immigration laws,” Smith said. “We've been noticing community members literally disappearing ever since Trump was in office.” The hospital said it acknowledged the protest and honored “individual rights to peaceful protest and free speech.” “These are our community members. They're our neighbors. We don't want to send our friends away. We don't care where they're from,” Smith said about undocumented residents and mixed-status families in her community. “We would want them to stand up for us, so we're standing up. Tucson is resisting.” Tucson mayor, Pima County attorney take notice, take action The noise that Campos and the Tucson community were making caught the attention of elected officials in Arizona and media outlets worldwide. Campos was delivering live stand-ups for the first time in his lengthy career practicing immigration law across the Southwest. Tucson Mayor Regina Romero acknowledged the developing situation by posting a statement on her social media accounts. “People in the United States, regardless of legal status, have a fundamental right to due process that has been reaffirmed by the Supreme Court as recently as April 7, 2025,” Romero wrote. “Denying this mother access to legal representation is both inhumane and a violation of her basic rights.” The mayor called the denial of Mateo’s ability to speak with her attorney “federal overreach.” “It is unacceptable to treat a medical facility as an extension of xenophobic policies, especially when a newborn’s health and safety are at stake,” she wrote, urging compassion and respect for due process. Campos reached out to elected officials, including the Governor’s Office, to inform them of the situation.“While Gov. Hobbs supports securing the border, she has been clear in her opposition to inhumane immigration enforcement practices,” Hobbs' spokesperson, Liliana Soto, said Friday on X. “The governor will continue fighting to protect the constitutional rights of every Arizonan and keep our communities safe.” On May 3, journalists were told that the Governor’s Office was “actively engaging with federal and local officials to gather further information.” The Pima County Attorney’s Office was also notified of the situation at the hospital. “I pride myself on being the best partner I can be to law enforcement, and in exchange, I’m grateful for what information they can share back with me,” County Attorney Laura Conover told The Republic on May 3. “Because of those strong relationships, we were able to express profound concern and to articulate why we thought this particular situation qualified for the humanitarian exception under the law.” Conover said she was in contact with federal partners but could not disclose which agencies. She mentioned her concern for the well-being of the mother and newborn. “I am very grateful that she was taken to a wonderful hospital run by a wonderful community, and for the assurance that Tucson Medical Center would take the best care they could under extremely challenging and unusual conditions,” Conover said. “At this hour, believing that mom and baby are safely in the care of a nonprofit, we are grateful and satisfied with this result after a harrowing 48 hours of communications.” Conover could not say what ultimately tipped the scale in the decision to reverse course on putting Mateo through a fast-paced deportation proceeding in which she wouldn’t even see a judge. Initial reporting indicated that Mateo was facing expedited removal. She had the option to either bring her newborn with her when she was deported or leave the baby in the U.S., a CBP spokesperson told the Arizona Daily Star. “I don't know what might have been most convincing, but I am certainly very grateful that w