The family’s decision
Ismael and Guadalupe remained in St. Paul after their 16-year-old daughter Kimberly was buried near relatives in Mexico. The couple watched the funeral services from their home by livestream on Aug. 4; Kimberly’s viewing had taken place at Summit Funeral Home in Inver Grove Heights on June 17, according to the Minnesota Star Tribune. The parents had been seeking asylum in the United States and feared that leaving the country could jeopardize their pending case.
Why leaving could affect the case
The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a precedential decision Aug. 13 that changed how certain departures by people with pending immigration matters are treated. The Star Tribune reported that the ruling could make people who leave while an asylum case is pending inadmissible for re-entry and lead to their pending cases being treated as abandoned. Separately, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says that, under the decision in Matter of Delcarmen-Lara, departure after receiving advance parole can trigger inadmissibility rules for people who have accrued more than 180 days of unlawful presence; those rules can carry three- or 10-year bars, depending on the amount of unlawful presence. USCIS also says time spent while a bona fide asylum application is pending generally is not counted as unlawful presence. The agency’s guidance is available through USCIS.
Attorney Julia Decker told the Star Tribune that people considering departure understand it could have major consequences for their immigration case. Ismael and Guadalupe had arrived at the southern border in late 2024 after fleeing cartel violence in Jalisco, Mexico, and had received permission to work while their application was being processed, the newspaper reported.
What the agencies say
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, people with pending affirmative asylum applications who leave the country without first obtaining advance parole are presumed to have abandoned their applications. The agency also says that advance parole does not guarantee re-entry. That guidance addresses travel authorization and abandonment, while the Board of Immigration Appeals decision reported in August addressed related inadmissibility and case consequences.
For carbon-monoxide risks, the Minnesota Department of Health says annual numbers and rates of carbon-monoxide deaths among Minnesota residents are decreasing overall, while noting that winter severity and heating-device use affect the figures. The state’s safety guidance recommends alarms near sleeping areas and monthly testing.
The deaths and the burial arrangements
Kimberly and her friend Leàn were found unresponsive in a car inside a small garage stall behind an apartment complex on St. Paul’s East Side. The Ramsey County Medical Examiner determined that both deaths were accidental and resulted from carbon-monoxide poisoning, according to the Star Tribune. Kimberly attended Harding High School. Leàn, who was from Honduras, lived with an aunt while attending school, the newspaper reported.
Sending remains to Mexico can cost more than $10,000, and Mexico’s consular guidance calls for funeral-home coordination, required documentation and compliance with health regulations in both countries. Financial assistance may require proof of economic hardship, according to the Consulate General of Mexico. Ismael started a fundraiser to help pay for the burial and repatriation, the Star Tribune reported.
A recurring garage hazard
Carbon monoxide is an odorless, colorless gas produced when fuels burn incompletely. Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety recommends installing carbon-monoxide alarms within 10 feet of each sleeping room or inside each sleeping room, testing them monthly and leaving a building immediately if an alarm sounds. Its guidance is available at the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
The broader enforcement backdrop
The family’s decision came amid Operation Metro Surge, an immigration-enforcement operation in the Twin Cities. In a separate report, MPR News reported that ICE agent Christian Castro was arrested and charged in connection with the shooting of an immigrant in Minneapolis and with allegedly making false statements to FBI investigators. That case is separate from Kimberly’s death and from the family’s asylum proceeding.
