The story of Estela Ramos Baten is one of heartbreak, fear, and a system that her family believes failed her.
The 45-year-old mother, who had lived in Los Angeles since 2016, was deported to Guatemala on July 4 alongside her teenage daughter, Nory Sontay Ramos, after a routine immigration appointment. Just two months later, on September 8, Estela collapsed and died in Quetzaltenango.
Her daughter Nory says the cause was more than medical — it was the crushing weight of fear and stress. “Deportation killed her,” she told MSNBC, which first reported the story.
A Mother’s Struggle
Back in Guatemala, Estela lived in near-constant terror. She had fled the country years earlier after being targeted and brutally attacked by members of the violent 18th Street Gang. Returning left her paralyzed with anxiety. Every knock on the door, every sound in the street, made her flinch.
She also carried a heavy burden of untreated illness. Estela suffered from high blood pressure and persistent headaches. According to her daughters, the medications she relied on in Los Angeles were confiscated when she was detained — and never returned. ICE insists she received medical evaluations and prescriptions while in custody, but Nory maintains her mother’s health spiraled after their deportation.
On the night of September 8, Estela told her daughters she felt unwell but refused to seek medical care, too afraid to leave the house. Hours later, she collapsed. Nory and her sister tried desperately to save her, performing mouth-to-mouth and calling neighbors for help. By the time paramedics arrived, it was too late.
A Family Shattered
The official death certificate listed “liver cirrhosis” as the cause, but her family insists the true cause was the relentless stress of deportation and the lack of critical medication.
In Los Angeles, Estela’s partner had been preparing to send her prescriptions and vitamins, unaware that the medicine would arrive too late. “I don’t know how I’m going to live without her,” he told MSNBC, through tears.
Estela’s eldest daughter, who remains in the U.S., said her mother had once confided: “If something happens to Nory, I’ll kill myself.” She believes the constant fear and helplessness ultimately consumed her mother.
Even Estela’s young grandson was shaken. Upon learning of her death, the 7-year-old begged not to go to school. “I don’t want to be deported like my grandma and never see you again,” he told his mother.
A Final Goodbye
Estela was laid to rest in her hometown of Momostenango, Guatemala. Nory stayed by her side through every moment, clinging to the casket draped with both the U.S. and Guatemalan flags. She and her sisters made sure their mother was buried in a traditional Maya dress — something she had always wanted but never owned.
“It will be the last gift we can give her,” Nory said quietly.
Now, the teenager who once dreamed of going to college in the U.S. is left fighting to survive in the country her mother feared most.
Her story is about loss and the emotional toll that deportation takes on families!
