Tim Vandenack covers immigration, multicultural issues and Northern Utah for KSL.com. He worked several years for the Standard-Examiner in Ogden and has lived and reported in Mexico, Chile and along the U.S.-Mexico border.
BOUNTIFUL — It's been five days since the dramatic arrest of Marta Renderos Leiva at Salt Lake City International Airport, and she's still trying to understand exactly what happened, says the woman's sister.
She's also sought legal help as she contends with the situation."She's still in shock," said Abigail Renderos, who was with her sister last Wednesday, Oct. 29, when four Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents took the woman, originally from El Salvador, into custody. The arrest transpired before the women entered the secure area of the airport, and it was caught on video by another traveler at the airport and posted to social media, garnering widespread attention.The agents "didn't say anything. I asked them who they were, why they were arresting her. They never identified themselves; they never said anything," said Abigail Renderos. The two women were traveling alone, planning to fly to Maryland to visit family. Abigail Renderos was not detained.The video, showing Marta Renderos struggling with two agents detaining her and pleading for help, prompted backlash from Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and others. Mendenhall said she was "left wondering and aching from the fear and pain these types of operations keep striking in my heart and the hearts of so many of us." While the Renderos sisters may have been confused about what was happening, the agents involved showed a Salt Lake City police officer at the scene their federal identification.Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said authorities had issued an order in absentia to deport Abigail Renderos in 2020 and labeled her an "illegal alien." Her arrest comes amid the unfolding crackdown on illegal immigration pursued by President Donald Trump and his administration and similar actions around the country against other immigrants suspected of being in the country illegally.Abigail Renderos, for her part, said her sister had applied for asylum and was doing what she could to regularize her status in the country. Marta Renderos had a permit to work in the United States, issued in 2024 and good through 2029, and never received any formal notification that she faced deportation or had to check in with immigration authorities. The photo from surveillance video at the Salt Lake City International Airport shows Marta Renderos Leiva being detained by federal immigration agents on Oct. 29. "If she would h
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