Oshkosh teacher on unpaid leave after ICE arrest in missed-hearing deportation case
Editorial illustration — Press Pass USAA Spanish teacher at a Wisconsin middle school is on unpaid leave after federal immigration officers arrested her on October 14 in a deportation case that began, her supporters say, with a hearing notice sent to an old address.
Wendy Mendez teaches at Vel Phillips Middle School in Oshkosh, according to the Oshkosh Area School District, which confirmed she is an employee in good standing placed on unpaid leave “due to unforeseen circumstances.” The district stressed the leave was not a school safety or performance issue and said its focus is supporting students and staff.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Mendez, a citizen of Costa Rica, entered the United States legally on a temporary basis on August 10, 2020, but failed to leave by February 9, 2021. She was placed into removal proceedings on February 18, 2026, and on September 9 an immigration judge ordered her removed for failing to appear at her hearing. ICE says she “received due process and will remain in custody pending her removal.”
A friend of Mendez, Deb Nez, wrote on Facebook that the hearing notice went to a previous address more than three years old, even though U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services had the family's new address. That claim has not been confirmed by ICE or the court in the reporting reviewed for this article.
The University of Wisconsin Oshkosh student newspaper, the Advance-Titan, reported that Mendez was deported on Wednesday, October 21, citing a source who asked to remain anonymous. ICE's public statement, carried by Fox 11, describes her as remaining in custody pending removal; this article reports both accounts as attributed and does not treat the anonymous-source deportation claim as confirmed.
Sources: Fox 11 Online via WTAQ-WLUK (Oct 27, 2026); UW Oshkosh Advance-Titan (Oct 26, 2026); U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement statement.
Sponsored