For years, Giovanna Hernandez has worked to help immigrants navigate the complex path of staying in the United States.
As a social worker with the Hispanic Immigration Coalition of Alabama (¡HICA!), her mission has been to protect others from the devastating reality of deportation.
Now, she’s the one in ICE custody facing the very same fate she’s dedicated her career to helping others avoid.
Her family says they’re doing everything they can to bring her home.
What began as an ordinary Tuesday morning in Leeds quickly became the fight of the Hernandez family’s life.
Inside their home, the walls are lined with photographs — birthdays, holidays, moments of laughter and love. Those pictures tell the story of a family’s journey from Mexico to Alabama, a life built over 17 years. But today, those images feel different.
That closeness is being tested after a traffic stop in Leeds on Tuesday morning.
“She’s not the type to do that. If you know my sister, she doesn’t even speed. She never goes over the limit,” said her brother, Dilan Hernandez.
According to Leeds Police and local immigration officials, Hernandez was clocked driving 80 miles per hour in a 70 zone and weaving in and out of traffic.
The stop would change everything.
“In other cases where it’s happened to many of us that are undocumented, they usually just give us simply two tickets. One for either speeding or whatever you’re getting pulled over for and then the no license, which most of the time is usually what happens. But unfortunately this time, the second officer that came up behind my sister was an ICE agent,” Dilan explained.
In that moment, the focus shifted from a traffic citation to deportation.
For the Hernandez family, who crossed into the U.S. from Mexico in 2008, it’s the nightmare they’ve always feared.
“My sister was seven years old when we came. I was four,” Dilan said.
Seventeen years of building a life in America are now threatened in a matter of minutes. Dilan says over the last several years, the family has tried to obtain legal status to no avail.
Adding to the family’s heartbreak is disappointment in the organization where Giovanna has worked for the past year.
“When everything happened, they actually reached out to my mom on the first day and they were like don’t worry about any of the legal fees and everything. We’re already sending lawyers basically to help Giovanna. After not even trying to do a lot for her they told her to go ahead and sign her deportation papers so she could be sent back to Mexico and they told her that’s the best chance and then after two years she would be eligible to apply for a visa,” Dilan said.
WBRC reached out to ¡HICA! for a response. In a statement, President Carlos Alemán said: “We understand the family wants their daughter safe and home. We also want the same for Giovanna. We will continue to advocate on her behalf.”
Now, the Hernandez family is raising money for her legal defense and asking for help from anyone who can give it. They hope their GoFundMe will be the lifeline that keeps Giovanna here in the place she has called home since she was a little girl.
According to ICE, Giovanna has been transferred from Alabama to a detention facility in Louisiana.
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