Gutierrez Lopez was detained at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2005 after fleeing El Salvador because she said she feared for her life. Authorities released her and ordered her to appear in immigration court, but she chose not to show up on the day her case was scheduled.
Instead, she began a new life as an undocumented immigrant in Virginia, she said in an interview on Wednesday, finding work in a restaurant and starting a family.
