Missouri community rallies behind Chinese woman facing deportation

A Chinese immigrant and mother of three has become the center of a grassroots support campaign after federal agents arrested her during what she expected to be a routine immigration appointment in April.

Ming Li Hui, known to her community as Carol Mayorga, made the trip from Kennett to St. Louis on April 29 following an urgent call from immigration officials. With a pre-arranged date to renew her work visa in August, she anticipated routine paperwork for authorization that remains valid through January 2026.

What followed, however, was a seven-hour ordeal that reportedly ended with ICE agents restraining her and moving her to rural Missouri detention facilities alongside male detainees. “She went in for the appointment,” a family member told the Delta Dunklin Democrat. “And she never came back.”

Court documents reveal Mayorga left Hong Kong two decades ago fleeing maternal abuse. Although she received a deportation order in 2008, the 45-year-old has maintained legal compliance for over 15 years through supervised status and regular official contact.

Kennett residents have since mobilized around Mayorga, whom they characterize as an exemplary community member juggling several jobs while raising three U.S.-born children ages 14, 12 and 7. “She is a person like no other you will ever meet,” her employer, Liridona Ramadani of John’s Waffle & Pancake House, told the Springfield Daily Citizen. “She is the nicest, hardest working, most devoted mother that I’ve ever met.” As of May 20, the restaurant had raised over $19,000 in proceeds from its own sales and donations from community members for Mayorga and her children.

Mayorga’s detainment and possible deportation comes amid the Trump administration’s intensified crackdown on immigration. Interestingly, her case has even sparked unusual political tensions in the conservative Bootheel region, where even Trump voters are now questioning the administration’s approach. “Ninety-five percent of the people in here support Trump — I do, too — but this is wrong,” Bud Garrison, a patron at John’s, told the St. Louis Public Radio.

Lisa Dry, a Kennett City councilmember who has known Mayorga for years, stressed the latter’s valid work visa and clean criminal record. “She works hard, she takes care of her kids, she makes sure they have everything they need,” she added. “I mean, to me, that’s the kind of citizen we want here.”