A 58-year-old grandma pulled over for a traffic violation is now facing deportation in Maryland. Immigration attorneys and other advocates around the state are asking, "Is this woman really a threat?" They are requesting that immigration officials allow her to stay.

Last year, the Obama administration pledged to prioritize deporting illegal immigrants with criminal records. The Administration stated that it would review pending deportation cases and put a priority on those cases that involved threats to national security or serious crimes. Meanwhile, "non-priority immigrants" would be able to stay in the U.S. through a "stay of deportation/removal" (preventing DHS from executing a removal order for a limited period of time) and even obtain work permits.

The policy shift came after announcements that more people have been deported under the Obama administration than other administrations. During the 2011 fiscal year, 396,906 immigrants were deported. This number is the highest in ICE's history. In 2010, there were more than 392,000 deportations. Slightly more than 50 percent of the deported immigrants had misdemeanors or felonies on their records, and just forty percent of those criminal deportations involved serious offenses.

The Administration is slowly rolling out its new policy to focus deportation efforts on immigrants with criminal records. It will have multiple pilot programs, including one in Baltimore.

The Maryland woman facing deportation would likely fit into the non-priority immigrant category. According to police, the woman was driving without a license. The arrest brought her to the attention of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and she is currently in immigration detention.

Community leaders are arguing that, since she would be considered a non-priority immigrant, the Maryland woman should not be deported at this time.

Source: Fox News Latino, "Traffic Stop Lands 58 Year-Old Woman in Jail, Facing Deportation," Elizabeth Llorente, Jan. 18, 2012.