A University of Maryland student who was the valedictorian at her high school in Prince George’s County has been detained by immigration authorities and is being held out-of-state.
Maria Flores Garcia’s boyfriend says she went to an immigration check-in with her mom in Baltimore last week, where both women were detained. Her loved ones are fighting for her release.
Just months ago, Flores graduated at the top of her class at Parkdale High School in Prince George’s County.
“It is an honor to stand before you as your valedictorian,” she told her fellow graduates, her voice thick with emotion.
She delivered a speech about overcoming the challenges she and her family faced when she came here from El Salvador as a child.
“At the age of 9, like many other children, I faced the challenge of starting over,” she said. “I was the new girl, who struggled to understand words and had to wait for someone to translate even the simplest instructions.”
But through her hard work and perseverance, she achieved the high honor and a full ride to attend the University of Maryland, where she’s been studying public health and plans to become a doctor.
“Congratulations, class of 2026, and remember that dreams don’t have limits or borders,” she said in her speech.
But now, the bright future she mapped out doesn’t seem so clear. Loved ones say Flores had gone with her mom for a check-in in Baltimore last week, where they were detained by immigration officials.
Flores’ boyfriend, Cesar Saavedra, has been in contact with her. He says she didn’t fully understand what was happening.
“And then they just had asked Maria if she wanted to go with her mom or if she just wanted to leave the premises of the building that they were at,” he said.
“So she decided to stay with her mom, obviously, not knowing if they were going to interview her or anything, so she decided to stay with her mom in case of anything,” he said, adding, “Sadly, she was detained minutes after.”
Saavedra started an online fundraiser to help Flores and her mom hire an immigration attorney. The two currently are being held in Louisiana.
Saavedra said they are staying positive and hoping they’ll be released and not sent back to El Salvador.
“Like, why would a valedictorian student, obviously going to college, doing everything right, and then gets detained with her mother? It’s just like, that’s totally not what should not be going on in this country at this moment,” he said.
Flores’ detention came just days before President Donald Trump sat down for an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” and spoke about immigration enforcement under his administration, following huge Republican losses in the mid-term elections.
In that interview, Trump was asked: “So you think your deportation policy went too far?”
“I think it was too tough,” he said. “I think it might be too tough, yeah. And a lot of people would say that it’s great, but a lot of people think it’s too tough.”
Saavedra showed Flores’ diploma to News4, along with other awards she’s received since elementary school. He said she and others caught up in the immigration crackdown don’t deserve to be treated this way.
“And I know it’s probably not just us, but a lot of other people that are going through the same thing, doing everything right in the country, and then they’re the ones being detained, when obviously I don’t think that’s what should be happening right now,” Saavedra said.
News4 reached out to ICE for additional information. We are waiting to hear back.
