--- title: Video of Woman's Arrest by Border Patrol Sparks Outrage description: A video of a woman identified as Perla Morales-Luna getting arrested by border patrol while her daughters looked on has sparked outrage canonical: https://time.com/5193468/perla-morales-luna-border-patrol-arrest-video/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-09T19:08:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:33.598Z article:section: Politics og:title: Outrage Over Mother Being Arrested by Border Patrol og:description: Her daughters were watching og:url: https://time.com/5193468/perla-morales-luna-border-patrol-arrest-video/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc776c060722214c1/6988e66dfb4eac70658949f3/gettyimages-869110684.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4800 og:image:height: 2700 og:image:alt: US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Outrage Over Mother Being Arrested by Border Patrol twitter:description: Her daughters were watching twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc776c060722214c1/6988e66dfb4eac70658949f3/gettyimages-869110684.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Video of Mother Being Torn From Daughters by Border Patrol Sparks Outrage > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=1b62215a-e3f0-4c54-bdf1-94f17e719e65&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: A Day in A Dreamer’s Life [Watch (HLS stream): A Day in A Dreamer’s Life](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fE7SysOq.m3u8) (2:37)  _Published 2018-03-01. Corina Barranco starts each American day the same way she started her American life: by putting one foot in front of another._  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 9, 2018 7:08 PM UTC  U.S. Border Patrol officer Tekae Michael stands near prototypes of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall on Nov. 1, 2017. U.S. Border Patrol officer Tekae Michael stands near prototypes of President Donald Trump's proposed border wall on Nov. 1, 2017. Frederic J. Brown—AFP/Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Mar 9, 2018 7:08 PM UTC A video of a woman named Perla Morales-Luna getting arrested by Border Patrol agents in California while her daughters look on has sparked outrage after it spread across social media. The video shows Morales-Luna, who authorities publicly identified, getting pushed into a border patrol vehicle on March 3 while her children watched in National City, California. Teaching aide Judith Castro-Gonzalez posted the video to Facebook on Thursday, [according to _CBS_ Los Angeles,](http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2018/03/08/national-city-mother-arrested-by-border-patrol-viral-video/) reportedly stating that one of Morales-Luna’s daughters was her student. Subsequently, the video quickly made the rounds on social media. The San Diego branch of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said that Morales-Luna was arrested because she was involved in a smuggling operation and was in the country illegally. A spokesperson for Border Patrol told the Los Angeles _Times_ that Morales-Luna will be transferred to Immigration and Customs Enforcement to start removal proceedings. > [](https://twitter.com/CBPSanDiego/status/971948215317667840) The arrest has raised questions about the way authorities were treating Morales-Luna. Benjamin Prado, coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee’s San Diego U.S.-Mexico Border Program – which the Los Angeles _Times_ says is a human rights group working with Morales-Luna’s family – told the paper it was a “grotesque” way of enforcing immigration law. “It is very quickly accelerating to a very tyrannical form of detention and arrest, snatching people up off the street,” Prado told the Los Angeles _Times._ ## Transcript I was five when I across the border to get here. I remember just walking and walking and feeling like I was never going to stop. We were all hungry. We saw it a bag of Oreo's in the trash. Just seeing some food, just got me so happy and I think I was We had to share the little bag of Oreos between other people. I walk to school whether its sunny or snowing, raining I still go to school because for me education is important. One nation under God. Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. I found out that [ LAUGH ] I think i have a hole in my boot from wearing it too much and walking and so I need new shoes pretty soon. [ LAUGH ] Watching my classmates applyiing for scholarships, I have to admit, I feel kinda jealous knowing that just because of a paper, I don't get the same benefits. It sucks, and I think it's unfair. But there's really nothing I can do about it. I didn't choose to be born in Mexico. I want to be a cop so then the community, it's Hispanic. So I can relate to them and they can feel like they can trust me. Something that changed my mind about the police is I went through a program called the Lorain Police Citizen's Academy. I got to experience firsthand what it's like. What they feel. I realized that their job is to protect us and help us, not scare us. I met the chief of the police. He became a really close friend of my family. I don't know whether you can be a police officer with DACA. It requires that you be a US citizen, but if they change and do comphrensive immigration reform then that can be addressed. See how different they are? Yeah. I sit down a minute and think of the whole DACA thing. I feel like my heart start beating fast because I don't know what's going to happen. I start to get too worried, and stressed, and scared. The American dream for me just like the constitution said, the pursue of happiness. Having a good job and starting a family with someone and I having to worry about. Am I going to stay here or am I going to leave. What's going to happen to me I do consider myself American. I grew up here. America is the only place I know as home. 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