Belizean Grandmother Faces Deportation After Weed Eater Incident

A Texas grandmother originally from Belize is facing possible deportation after she was accused of assaulting a postal worker with a weed eater during a confrontation in Spring, Texas. According to The Independent, Margarita Avila, a landscaper who has lived in the United States since 2001, was arrested and charged with assault – bodily injury.

The incident has now landed her in federal immigration custody.

According to a March 13 statement from Harris County Constable Mark Herman, “Margarita Avila was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail, charged with Assault – Bodily Injury. Her bond was set at $100.00 out of County Court 3.” The statement also alleges that Avila struck a U.S. Postal Service worker with a weed eater, “leaving multiple welts on her arm and body.”

The altercation reportedly occurred while Avila was trimming grass near a mailbox. Authorities say a postal worker asked Avila to step back to avoid getting hit by debris, then tapped her on the shoulder when the request was ignored. That’s when Avila allegedly attacked.

But her family says the 52-year-old was acting in self-defense.

“She’s running away from a cartel that was threatening her life back in 2001 when she first came,” her daughter, Lisbet Azucena Avila, told Newsweek. “And then when she left [for Belize] in 2012, she had to come right back six months later because the threat was still there.”

Lisbet insists her mother is in the U.S. legally and is seeking asylum. She fears deportation would place her mother in grave danger. “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,” she said.

Video footage from the scene reportedly shows the two women wrestling on a lawn but does not capture how the confrontation began. “With the wrestling and everything, that’s when you could see the weed eaters just like going different places,” Lisbet described. “My mom was put out there as her being the attacker but she’s really the victim here.”

The U.S. Postal Service told KHOU11 that the worker involved has been interviewed and is cooperating with management. No investigation has been launched by the postal service at this time.

Meanwhile, the charge has complicated Avila’s immigration status. She is now in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, and her family is fighting for her release.