BOSTON — The Lynn teachers' union, the city's Democratic mayor, and Lynn city councilors spent the last five days staging back-to-back rallies in a frantic last-ditch bid to stop ICE from deporting one of their own — a Guatemalan mother who has been living in Massachusetts for 16 years and seeking asylum for more than a decade.

Her ICE check-in is today. By her own account, she was told to expect to be detained.

Now, by her own account, she was told to expect to be detained when she shows up for her regularly scheduled check-in at ICE's Burlington, Massachusetts field office on Monday — today.

"The fear is real," Perez said at a rally for her in Lynn on May 6. "The fear of the possibility of not seeing my son graduate from high school, or not being able to keep driving him to his soccer game and becoming a professional soccer player. I can't even explain to you the mental health toll that has taken on my family, despite of all the support I'm getting."

Perez has not said publicly who told her to expect detention, nor where she would be deported, CBS Boston reported.

Perez has a 15-year-old U.S.-citizen son. According to CBS Boston, the boy has "complex medical needs," though the network did not detail what those needs are.

He plays soccer. Perez says she drives him to his games and that he wants to play professionally.

Two rallies in five days. The first on May 6. The second at Red Rock Park in Lynn on Sunday night — the night before her ICE appointment, in a last-ditch push to keep her in the country. The roster of speakers was a who's-who of Lynn's Democratic political class.

Isaac Simon Hodes, of the activist group Lynn United for Change, told CBS Boston: "Mariola is a beloved member of our community. She's a mom, you can see her here with her son, and we are not going to stand by and watch her get ripped away needlessly and cruelly. We've got her back. The community is standing together to say no to this deportation [and] yes to keeping this community together."

Phill O'Connor of the Lynn teachers' union added: "We're here to show not just support to her, but to all of our immigrant brothers and sisters and siblings that are going through this difficult time."

Lupita Panameno, a Lynn resident, said: "As a friend, as a mother, as a community member, she is so valuable."

CBS Boston reported that Perez has also drawn support from the mayor, city councilors, and fellow teachers.

What makes Lynn's response unusual is who Perez has been the entire time her asylum case has been pending.

Per CBS Boston, she has worked in Lynn as a trained medical interpreter and as a para-educator in the city's public schools.

It is the kind of resume that turns a deportation case into a community rally.

Under U.S. immigration law, an asylum claim is, on paper, supposed to be adjudicated within 180 days of filing absent exceptional circumstances. Perez has been seeking asylum for more than a decade — while raising a U.S.-citizen son and working inside Lynn's public school system.

Under the previous administration, immigration enforcement of long-pending cases like hers slowed sharply, and routine ICE check-ins were widely treated as a formality. Under the second Trump administration, that has shifted. ICE check-ins in Burlington and across the country have become the point at which long-stalled cases are acted on.

Perez's check-in is Monday. As of Monday morning, the rallies were over. The next step is hers.