A Texas grandmother, originally from Belize, was accused of assaulting a postal worker in an incident that landed her in federal detention and now puts her at risk of deportation, according to reports.
Margarita Avila, a landscaper, is accused of injuring a mail carrier with a weed eater during a confrontation in Spring, Texas, earlier this month, the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said. Now, Avila has been placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
Her family says she was acting in self-defense and fears she will soon be deported. The Independent has reached out to ICE for more information.
Avila has lived in the U.S. since 2001, when she fled Belize due to a “cartel that was threatening her life,” her daughter Lisbet Azucena Avila told Newsweek.
"She's running away from a cartel that was threatening her life back in 2001 when she first came. And then when she left [for Belize] in 2012, she had to come right back six months later because the threat was still there," she said, noting her mother is in the U.S. legally and seeking asylum.
If deported, her mother would be faced with the same devastating situation, she said: “We don't want to think about that because if my mom were to go back, that would be the last time that we see our mom."
Lisbet also said that her mother was wearing protective goggles and earplugs when the postal worker allegedly hit her.
Avila was trimming grass near the mailbox when the postal worker asked the landscaper to step aside to prevent debris from blowing at her as she delivered mail, authorities said. The postal worker then tapped her on the shoulder and asked again; that’s when Avila allegedly hit her with a weed eater, “leaving multiple welts on [the USPS worker’s] arm and body,” the Harris County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office said.
Video footage captured the pair wrestling on a vibrant green lawn, but doesn’t show the beginning of the confrontation.
"With the wrestling and everything, that's when you could see the weed eaters just like going different places," she told KHOU11, insisting that the postal worker initiated the attack. "She said the lady came from behind and knocked the glasses out of her face.”
Lisbet added: “My mom was put out there as her being the attacker but she’s really the victim here.”
The Independent has reached out to the postal service for comment. The postal service told KHOU11 that no investigation had been launched in connection to the incident and that the worker involved had been interviewed and is working with management.
Avila was charged with assault - bodily injury and her bond was set at $100, Harris County Constable Mark Herman said in a March 13 statement.
The charge has impacted Avila’s immigration proceedings and her family is now fighting for her release from ICE custody.
In a message to President Donald Trump, who has vowed to execute the “largest deportation operation in American history,” Lisbet pleaded for a pathway to citizenship for non-violent immigrants. She said: "All I would ask of him is to have a little compassion and a little humanity for the people that are here and trying to do it the right way."
