Jose Gonzalez Carranza was born in Mexico and came to the United States as a teenager. In 2007, he married Barbara Vieyra, an army private. The couple had one daughter. In 2010, Barbara Vieyra was killed while deployed in Afghanistan. Gonzalez Carranza was granted what’s known as “parole in place,” a special status allowing him to remain in the US without fear of deportation, in spite of his undocumented status.
But last week, Gonzalez Carranza was arrested while he was driving to work in the morning. He was deported to Mexico. After his case attracted the attention of Arizona senator Kyrsten Sinema and drew widespread media coverage, Gonzalez Carranza was allowed to re-enter the United States on April 15. It Here’s what you need to know:
1. He Spent Several Nights Sleeping in a Shelter for Deported Migrants Before He Was Allowed Back into the US
Gonzalez Carranza was arrested on Monday, April 11 and sent to Nogales, Mexico. He was allowed to re-enter the United States on Monday, April 15. He says authorities have not explained why he was allowed to return to the United States. Gonzalez Carranza says he slept in a shelter for deported migrants in Nogales, a city he does not know at all.
Gonzalez Carranza was given a status known as “parole in place” in 2010, after his wife was killed in Afghanistan. That status allowed Gonzalez Carranza to stay in the United States without fear of being deported. But in 2018, ICE re-opened his case. Gonzalez Carranza was sent a notice to appear at a hearing in his case but he never made it to the hearing because, he says, he never received the notice to appear. After he missed the hearing, a judge issued an order for his arrest. Gonzalez Carranza was finally arrested and deported on April 8.
2. His 12 Year Old Daughter, Evelyn, Lives With Her Grandparents
Gonzalez Carranza and his wife, Barbara Vieyra, had one child, a daughter named Evelyn. Evelyn was just three years old when her mother died in Afghanistan. Barbara’s sister, Guadalupe, says that Evelyn sees her father occasionally, on the weekends. But most of the time, Evelyn is with her aunt and grandparents. Guadalupe says the family works hard to keep the memory of Evelyn’s mother alive:
“When she was 3, she was too young to know what happened, but now she’s almost a teenager,” she said. “We talk about it all the time. We celebrate my sister’s birthday and the anniversary of her death because we want my niece to know her mother died fighting for her country.”
3. He Lives Near Phoenix & Works as a Welder
Gonzalez Carranza, 30, lives in Apache Junction, which is close to Phoenix, Arizona. He has a job as a welder in Gilbert, Arizona. Gonzalez Carranza says that on April 8, at about 5:30 AM, he was driving to his welding job when he was stopped and arrested by five or six ICE officers wearing camouflage and carrying guns. He says they put him into the back of a van and drove him to an ICE office in downtown Phoenix.
Gonzalez Carranza was born in Mexico and came to the United States when he was a teenager. He married Barbara Vieyra, a US citizen and army private, in 2007. After Vieyra was killed in Afghanistan, Gonzalez Carranza was granted “parole in place,” a status which allowed him to stay in the United States without fear of deportation. But ICE re-opened his case in 2018 and on April 8, he was arrested and deported to Mexico. He was allowed to re-enter the US on April 15.
4. His Wife Was Killed During an Insurgent Attack in Kunar, Afghanistan
Jose Gonzalez Carranza was arrested by ICE on his way to his welding job and deported to Nogales, Mexico. He was married to Army Pfc. Barbara Vieyra, who was killed on Sept. 18, 2010, while serving in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. She was 22.
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Gonzalez Carranza married Barbara Vieyra in 2007. Vieyra, a US citizen, was a prive first class in the army. In 2010, when the couple’s daughter Evelyn was jus three years old, Vieyra was deployed to Afghanistan. She was mortally wounded in Kunar province when her unit came under attack from insurgents wielding rocket-propelled grenades.
Barbara’s sister, Guadalupe, says that Evelyn sees her father occasionally, on the weekends. But most of the time, Evelyn is with her aunt and grandparents. When they were reached by reporters, neither Guadalupe nor her parents realized that Gonzalez Carranza had been deported.
Guadalupe says the family works hard to keep the memory of Evelyn’s mother alive:
“When she was 3, she was too young to know what happened, but now she’s almost a teenager,” she said. “We talk about it all the time. We celebrate my sister’s birthday and the anniversary of her death because we want my niece to know her mother died fighting for her country.”
5. Gonzalez Carranza Blames the President for His Deportation
Gonzalez Carranza told AZ Central that he blamed President Trump for his deportation. He said, “I feel bad because President (Donald) Trump says he wants to help” people who fight for the country, “but then why does he want to kick people out when his wife sacrificed. He added that Trump seemed to want to deport people regardless of their circumstances:
“I think the new president, the only thing he wants to do is deport people for no reason,” Gonzalez Carranza said. “I know there are bad people in America, good people in America. But he only thinks, if you are illegal, you are going out. He never thinks about what happened with the families … or if the people contribute to his country to be better.”