ICE denies stay for Oakland nurse; couple to be deported Wednesday

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- An Oakland nurse and her husband will be deported on Wednesday, after ICE denied a stay request from Senator Dianne Feinstein, who fought to keep the family together.

Maria Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband Eusebio have held jobs, paid taxes, and stayed out of legal trouble for two decades. They have four children.

But Sanchez and her husband are now being forced to leave. She will fly out of San Francisco International Airport on Wednesday night.

They had asked for a stay so Senator Feinstein could introduce a bill in congress next month that would have protected them from deportation.

The couple will take their 12-year-old son and leave their three daughters here.

The Oakland cancer nurse won a one-day reprieve. She and her husband were set to be deported to Mexico on Tuesday.

Feinstein's office told Maria Mendoza Sanchez and her husband Eusebio to cancel their flight in order to file another request stay. The current stay now expires at noon on Wednesday.

Maria and Eusebio were originally scheduled to leave from SFO to Mexico City at 12:55 Tuesday afternoon, but not before they made one final plea to President Donald Trump to stay in the Bay Area. "How would he feel if all of the sudden something would happen to let's say Ivanka or one of his other kids. And they have to leave their kids behind," said Maria.

Maria's co-workers, her hospital's CEO and members of Congress have all made efforts to stop her deportation.

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The couple's attorney asked federal immigration authorities for a stay of deportation while Feinstein wants to introduce a private bill in Congress next month allowing the couple to remain in the U.S.

The couple has held jobs, paid taxes and stayed out of legal trouble for two decades. They have four children, three of them U.S. citizens. "Hopefully, we can get a stay of deportation. One that we need for one year, so my daughter can graduate from UC Santa Cruz and we can be here for her," Maria said.

RELATED: Sen. Feinstein visits Oakland family facing deportation

ICE issued a statement saying, "the courts consistently held that neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S. while ICE continues to prioritize its enforcement resources to focus on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security, ICE will not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement."

The Sanchez family said if they are forced to leave, they'll take their son to Mexico with them and leave their three daughters behind.

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