Leading Abortion Activist Arrested on DUI and Drug Charges, Faces Deportation For Being in U.S. Illegally

National   |   Micaiah Bilger   |   Mar 8, 2018   |   4:38PM   |   Washington, DC

An abortion activist with a history of breaking the law could be deported after she was detained Wednesday by immigration officials.

Alejandra Pablos, 32, is an abortion and immigration activist who works for the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, Rewire reports. She also works with We Testify, a pro-abortion group that encourages women to publicly share how they benefited from aborting their unborn babies.

On Wednesday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained Pablos in Arizona, potentially due to her criminal record, Phoenix New Times reports.

Pablos is a green card holder and was a legal permanent resident from Mexico; however, because she repeatedly has been convicted of criminal charges, her immigration status now is in jeopardy, according to the report.

Her convictions include two DUIs and other minor convictions, and she was arrested for allegations of trespassing and obstruction of justice in January, the report states. She spent some time in prison for the offenses, and her criminal record goes back to 2006, according to the report.

Rewire reports she lost her permanent resident status two years ago after a drug-related arrest.

Pro-abortion groups are defending her with claims that she was detained unfairly because of her political activism.

The National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health told the pro-abortion news site: “Alejandra isn’t the only one. Detainment is also evidence of ICE’s pattern of singling out immigrant leaders for being outspoken and fearless community mobilizers. In recent months, ICE detained prominent immigrant activist Maru Mora-Villalpando for her ‘extensive involvement with anti-ICE protests and Latino advocacy programs.’”

The radical pro-abortion group NARAL also issued a statement supporting Pablos and demanding that she be released.

Pablos made a similar claim in a social media post, “It’s been a long time that I’ve been going through this case and they’re trying to really separate me and tear our movement apart and tear our community apart, and I’m not letting that happen.”

An ICE spokesperson denied that motive, telling the pro-abortion group, “the agency does not target undocumented people ‘for arrest based on advocacy positions they hold or in retaliation for critical comments they make.’”

Pablos is active in the pro-abortion movement. She aborted an unborn baby in 2017, saying although she wanted the baby, she felt that “it just wasn’t the right time.” Pablos blamed the “broken, cruel immigration in the U.S.” for making her afraid to give birth to a child, saying she feared being torn away from her child “if I had one.”