From Mexico City, a young woman who grew up in North Port talks about her future.
By Ramon Lopez
Original Air Date: August 20, 2025
Host: Our reporter Ramon Lopez has closely followed the deportation odyssey of Lulu Martinez. In June, the young woman from North Port ended up in ICE detention in Texas, and now she is with her grandmother in Mexico City. This—for now—last installment in her story talks about her legal options if she decided to return to the United States, and her future in Mexico.
Ramon Lopez: 22-year-old Maria Martinez’s current unplanned journey all began with an illegal U-turn in North Port last May.
WSLR News spoke to Maria, known as Lulu to friends and family, now in self-imposed exile just outside of Mexico City.
Maria Martinez
She was detained by a North Port cop for the traffic infraction. She did not have a drivers license and was an undocumented immigrant, having come to Florida from Mexico with her family when she was only 12.
Turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, agents, Maria eventually ended up in ICE’s El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas.
She then appeared before an immigration court judge but was denied bond enabling her to go home. You see, she was deemed a “threat to society for driving without a license” and returned to ICE lockup.
She had two choices: appeal the bond denial, remaining at the detention camp for many more months in hopes of being released, or take what’s legally known as voluntary departure to Mexico.
That means you are in Immigration Court and ask the judge to let you pay your way out of detention and not receive a removal order, which usually carries a five to 10-year ban. Maria decided to take Option Two.
Lulu crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. On the other side, she was issued papers by Mexican police and joined other freed detainees at a government-run shelter to spend the night. The next day, she flew to Mexico City.
We pick up her story here.
Maria Martinez
Maria Martinez: My aunt—she’s the one that picked me up from the airport—and she was with my little cousin. I saw her in pictures, but it was my first time meeting her. And then I saw her walk in with my cousin, and we started crying because the last time she saw me, I was just a little girl, I was just 12 years old, and I was really close to that aunt. We started crying. We hugged each other. Meeting my cousin was really beautiful.
My grandmother had a special dinner for me. It was like a welcome party. The next day, my family made another surprise party for me. There was most of my family there. I was very, very, very happy being with my family and being so loved by my family that, even though they didn’t see me in so much time, they still love me. I was happy but not completely happy because it’s tough,
RL: But her immediate family back in Florida was not there to celebrate Lulu’s release with her. She said that reunion may take a while.
MM: They want to join me in Mexico. Maybe in a year. Now, they want to make everything possible for them to move here.
RL: Maria sees opportunities in Mexico, including fulfilling her dream of becoming a pilot.
MM: I am a Mexican citizen. And now that I’m here in my country, I’m legally employed, and I’m able to apply to different colleges now; I’m able to look for any job that I want with no restrictions. I have a lot of plans, a lot of projects. It feels good to be able to do all this stuff that I was not able to do there and that I always wanted. I always wanted to find an opportunity to get a good job there, to apply to different colleges, but I was not able to because I had no Social Security number. I was not able to apply for scholarships. Here, seeing all these opportunities, it feels unreal.
RL: We asked Maria if she feels she was treated unfairly by the U.S. government.
MM: It was not fair. I know I committed a crime—no driving without a driver’s license—but I did it out of necessity. In all the years I lived in Florida, I always tried to be a good citizen by working hard, being a good student, having good credit, paying taxes. I feel like we deserve an opportunity. People like us should be given the opportunity to stay in the country.
RL: Lulu is seeing things differently now.
“México te abraza”—that is, “Mexico hugs you” or “Mexico embraces you”
MM: I realized that my life was not over yet. I’m actually excited to to be here in my country and start a new journey.
RL: You said “my country.” Do you consider Mexico your country, or the United States?
MM: My country. Mexico. As soon as I got here, I felt like I belong here.
RL: So for Lulu, the decision to flee or not to flee was never the question. Her life story doesn’t end with an unfortunate U-turn, as her journey has only just begun.
With apologies to songwriters Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg…
[Melodic ballad]
Judy Garland: Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
RL: This is Ramon Lopez for WSLR News.
WSLR News aims to keep the local community informed with our 1/2 hour local news show, quarterly newspaper and social media feeds. The local news broadcast airs on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6pm.
See our previous reporting here:
North Port college grad detained and mistreated, family says
Lulu Martinez denied bond, continues in ICE detention in Texas
After weeks of ICE detention, Lulu Martinez yields to pressure
ICE detainee describes what it’s like in lockup
Lulu Martinez recounts her walk to freedom after weeks of ICE detention