Maria Bolanos takes her sleeping daughter, Melisa, to a neighbor's house before she goes to work. She does janitorial work at an apartment complex Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and pulls a 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. shift at a restaurant Thursday through Sunday.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Maria Bolanos is an undocumented immigrant who called police because she feared her partner was going to hurt her. Within months, she found herself ensnared in an increasingly controversial immigration enforcement program designed to deport undocumented criminals.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Melisa Arellano Bolanos plays with her mother's bracelet as she gets ready to go out to do some errands.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos starts her first job cleaning an apartment building complex.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos paid $7,000 to coyotes to help her cross the border via the Arizona desert in 2004. She met her partner and had her daughter in the United States.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos now faces deportation and possible separation from her 21-month-old daughter, who was born here and is a U.S. citizen.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Casa de Maryland's Ashwini Jaisinghon, left, embraces Bolanos. The organization has been trying to help her.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos was originally detained in Upper Marlboro but was released with a locator ankle bracelet so she should breastfeed her daughter.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos reads to her daughter in their Hyattsville home.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos breast feeds Melisa while wearing her police ankle bracelet.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Melisa's father, Fernando Arellano, sent her a picture of Dora from "Dora the Explorer" from prison. If Bolanos and Arellano are both deported, he would have to go to Mexico and she to El Salvador, meaning Melisa would be left without at least one of her parents.
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Bolanos calls her attorney and learns that he won't be present during her court day in two weeks. Bolanos goes to Baltimore to check in every two weeks in addition to wearing a locator ankle bracelet.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos looks around before entering the BI Inc. office in Baltimore where she comes to check in every two weeks.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Photos and religious art adorn the walls of Bolanos's Hyattsville apartment.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Bolanos picks up Melisa from a neighbor's house after finishing her shift at the first of her two jobs.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
Melisa sleeps in her mother's bed. Bolanos has been told she probably will be deported after a Wednesday hearing before an immigration judge in Baltimore.
Juana Arias for The Washington Post
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