ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Days after a Mexican woman and her three children were taken into custody by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Soldotna, with the mother and two youngest children deported within 36 hours to Tijuana, Mexico, the timeline of events and process of deportation is becoming clearer.

Sonia Espinoza Arriaga, a Mexican national who recently married Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, a U.S. citizen, spoke with Alaska’s News Source by phone Wednesday evening from a transit station in Tijuana with her 5-year-old and 16-year-old children who were deported with her.

Her 18-year-old son Alexis Arriaga was first taken into custody of Alaska’s Department of Corrections, according to Alaska immigration attorney Lara Nations, before being transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, on Friday.

ICE detainees from Alaska typically spend a few days in DOC custody before transfer to the Tacoma Detention Center.

Family says attorney advised them to continue normal life

Arriaga’s husband, Alexander Sanchez-Ramos, a U.S. citizen, said the family consulted with their attorney after the missed hearing and the notice of removal was issued. He said the attorney advised them to continue their daily lives while the firm worked on next steps.

“They said that this letter — to continue to live our life as we were, go to work, all that,” Alexander said. “And … that this could possibly happen. And if and when it happened, to contact them, so therefore they can go with these next, the next steps.

“So in reference to that question, yes, but we were assured that the process would be different.”

Coming to the US

Sonia Arriaga says she entered the United States in 2023 and turned herself in at the border, triggering removal proceedings, which is a civil court process to determine whether she qualified for asylum, another form of relief, or would be ordered to deport.

Arriaga said she fled her home in Jalisco, Mexico due to domestic violence and gang activity.

She said her oldest son Alexis was brought to the United States separately several months after she and her younger sons arrived.

Alaska’s News Source asked Nations about the nature of Alexis’ immigration case and were told this week that attorneys are still gathering information about the family’s case.

Nations said she is unsure why Alexis is being separated from the family following their detention this week because those under 21 are considered minors in some civil proceedings, which means they tend to be included in a parent’s immigration proceeding.

Attorney: deportation was unusually swift

The family’s attorney confirmed the law generally permits ICE to make arrests and carry out removal orders. She said individuals have a 90-day window to file a motion to reopen a case after a removal order is issued, but noted that window does not prevent the government from acting on the removal order.

“ICE can effectuate the order in general. But it’s not a guarantee. Like, you will get 90 days and then you will be deported. No. There’s no, like, stay of the government’s ability to remove someone during that time period,” the attorney said.

The attorney said the speed of the deportation was notable.

“Yes. It was very fast. We are very far away from Mexico here. And that was incredibly swift. The federal government usually is slow moving in general,” she said.

18-year-old son detained separately

Arriaga’s 18-year-old son, Alexis Arriaga, was not deported with the others. He was placed in the Anchorage jail and has since been transferred, according to the family. The reason he was separated from the rest of the family has not been confirmed.

ICE spokespeople had not responded to requests for comment on the Arriaga case as of the time of this report.

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JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska  –  An Alaska Army National Guard aircrew assigned to Bethel conducted a successful search and rescue mission to locate and extract an overdue snowmachiner during a mission coordinated through the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center.

The mission opened Feb. 15 in response to a request for assistance from the Alaska State Troopers to perform a search for an overdue snowmachiner who had been snowmachining north of Pilot Station. The Alaska Army National Guard accepted the mission through AKRCC and launched a UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter from Bethel to search the area.

The aircrew searched for approximately three and a half hours, covering more than 100 square miles of terrain before eventually locating the individual about 110 miles north of Bethel, roughly 30 miles east of his last known location.

One of the aircrew members involved in the mission, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Nick Lime, said the team first located the individual on the evening of Feb. 15 but was unable to immediately extract him due to challenging terrain and fuel limitations.

“We located him that night, and another crew member and I snowshoed about half a mile trying to link up with him,” Lime said. “But with fuel running low and the deep snow conditions, we couldn’t make it all the way in, so we dropped a survival radio and some water to make sure he could stay in contact and had what he needed overnight.”

On the morning of Feb. 16, with a storm approaching, the Army Guard aircrew returned to the area to deliver additional supplies.

“There was a storm coming in, so we flew up to drop supplies,” Lime said. “We were concerned about him being able to hold out in those conditions.”

Using the previously dropped radio, the aircrew re-established communications with the stranded snowmachiner. He had managed to free his snowmachine but reported that his feet were hurting and freezing.

“We got him to ride it about 100 to 150 yards closer to the trail we had made the night before,” Lime said.
The crew then dropped a set of snowshoes to help him continue moving. When the snowmachine became stuck again, members of the aircrew transitioned to movement on foot.

“Once on the ground, I snowshoed another quarter mile to him,” Lime said. “I was able to link up with him and walk him back to the hawk.”

As Lime made his way toward the stranded snowmachiner, the Black Hawk pilots remained in radio communication with the individual, encouraging him to keep moving and continue working his way closer to the aircraft.

After reaching the aircraft, the crew brought the individual aboard and transported him to a medical facility in Bethel for evaluation.

The mission highlights the close coordination between the Alaska State Troopers, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, and the Alaska Army National Guard, as well as the aircrew’s ability to adapt to rapidly changing conditions in remote winter terrain.

  bethel, guard, rescue, snowmachine