PALO ALTO -- Three children of a deported undocumented immigrant father said Tuesday they want to stay in the United States and remain a family despite the fact that their mother also faces deportation. The children could be looking at years in foster care.

The children spoke at a press conference in Palo Alto at the First United Methodist Church of Palo Alto about the recent arrest of their parents and the deportation of their father, Pedro Ramirez.

"I really want to stay like a family and not be separated," the 10-year-old daughter of the deported parents said.

On Feb 28 Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Ramirez and Isabel Aguirre, who are both undocumented immigrants, according to a statement by the American Muslim Voice.

Ramirez was deported within an hour of the arrest, according to the statement.

"Aren't we better than this? What good could possibly be served with such an action? We simply cannot sit by and let parents be torn away from their children right before our eyes by our own government," Rev. Dr. Diana Gibson of the Council of Churches of Santa Clara County said.

"We are being motivated by fear. We cannot allow ourselves to be motivated by fear," former mayor of Palo Alto Jim Burch said.

According to Virginia Kice, spokeswoman for U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, both Aguirre and Ramirez were ordered to leave the country by an immigration judge in 2002. They appealed the decision but it was reviewed and dismissed in 2005.

"This family had ample access to due process. They had they're day in court," Kice said. "Adults make decisions every day that have consequences for their children."

"There's a certain amount of humanity involved here, or lack thereof," Gloria Nieto said, who is a member of the Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network.

According to Kice, Aguirre met with ICE officials in San Francisco Tuesday and indicated that she had at least one airline ticket to Mexico for herself as ordered.

In fiscal year 2006, ICE arrested approximately 200,000 foreign nationals in the United States. From May to Feb of 2006, ICE arrested 1,423 people and deported 888 from Northern California, Kice said.

The four children remain in their home with a family friend but their future is still uncertain, American Muslim Voice spokeswoman Samina Sundas said.