7/30/04 A Oaxacan woman arrested on suspicion of killing her newborn son in Santa Maria, then cleared when investigators determined the infant likely died at birth, has been deported.

Reyna Garcia Hernandez underwent immigration proceedings July 14 in San Pedro, where she was ordered deported by Judge Rose Peters, according to Greg Gagne, spokesman for the federal Executive Office for Immigration Review, which held the hearings.

Though Hernandez could have appealed, she evidently didn't exercise that option and was deported to Mexico July 15, about two weeks after her initial arrest, Gagne said. Respondents in immigration hearings are not guaranteed legal representation, though their rights are explained to them by court officials, he said.

A native of Sola de Vega, a rural village in Mexico, Hernandez is now working and living in Tijuana, said a male cousin of hers who asked not to be identified. Her two U.S.-born children remain in Santa Maria under the care of relatives, the cousin said.

Terms of her deportation dictate that she can't return to the United States for at least five years, her cousin said.

Hernandez, 23, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was arrested by Santa Maria police June 29 on suspicion of killing her newborn and burying him behind a shed at her family's home in the 700 block of West Polk Street.

She told police about disguising her pregnancy as she carried the baby to term, then secretly giving birth in the bathroom of the home she shared with at least six other people, according to police Lt. Larry Ralston.

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The woman said she was unconscious during the delivery and that when she came to, the baby boy wasn't breathing, he said. Believing the infant was dead, she placed him in a plastic grocery bag and buried him in a hole she dug in the backyard without alerting anybody else at the house, Ralston said.

A cousin doing work in the backyard found the dead baby about two weeks after the birth, and alerted police. An autopsy later confirmed Hernandez' account that the infant died at birth.

Publicity from the arrest alerted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) of Hernandez's undocumented status, said ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice. ICE operates under the auspices of the U.S. Homeland Security Department.

Hernandez returned to the Polk Street home after being released from jail on July 1. She mostly kept to herself after that, her cousin said, and did not go to work.

Early in the morning of July 8, two ICE officials arrived in an unmarked car at the home where Hernandez lived, her cousin said. Though she shared the home with several other undocumented adults, the men wanted only to see Hernandez, he said.

Hernandez was escorted from the house and placed in handcuffs before she entered the car.

After being processed in Camarillo, she was transferred to Los Angeles, then taken to ICE's long-term detention facility in San Pedro until her immigration hearing, Kice said.

Hernandez lived in Santa Maria for about five years. She lived at a rented home on Oakley Avenue, then moved to the Polk Street address in January.

She was employed as a celery and broccoli harvester by Rancho Harvest Inc. in Santa Maria. Company officials would not comment on Hernandez.

Staff writer Quintin Cushner can be reached at 739-2217 or by e-mail at qcushner@pulitzer.net.

Staff writer Elizabeth Rodriguez contributed to this story.