TUCSON, ARIZONA -- Araceli Torres Ruiz, an undocumented Mexican immigrant who was detained for more than 100 days for using an invalid Social Security Number to get a job here, is now trying to survive while she appeals the pending deportation order against her.

"I'm no criminal. I worked to maintain my family in an honorable way," Torres told Efe in an interview, sadly recalling the 116 days she spent behind bars.

The 25-year-old Mexican immigrant was one of the 11 undocumented workers detained by the Arizona Department of Public Safety on March 18 at a Tucson outlet of Panda Express, a chain of Chinese restaurants.

"I'll never forget that day. We were ready to open when I saw a woman in a uniform come in. In that same moment, I saw that something was going wrong, and immediately I said to one of my friends, 'It's immigration,'" she recalled.

"I only managed to phone my husband and ask him to take good care of my daughter," she added.

At first, Torres, who came to the United States at the age of 7, refused - as was her right - to answer the questions of the immigration officials, but she gave in in the face of their insistance and finally admitted that she was undocumented, after which she was transferred to a detention center.

"They took us to the offices of the Border Patrol and afterwards to the Pima County jail, in the same place where there are people who have killed or trafficked in drugs," she said.

After long months of struggle and after receiving the help of lawyers and the Arizona Human Rights Coalition, the 11 Panda Express workers were found guilty of identity theft, a misdemeanor, by a county judge in July.

Eight of them were sentenced to time served and must pay the attorney's fees, while the other three are still awaiting sentencing.

Once the legal procedures were over, they were handed over to immigration authorities and Torres had to post bail of $20,000 to be able to leave the detention center in Eloy, Arizona.

"I received the help of many very good people, who helped me pay the bail," she said.

At this point, six of the arrested workers are back in Mexico, but three others, Torres among them, have appealed their deportation orders, a process that could take one or two years.

"My lawyer told me that I have a good chance because of all the years I've lived in this country. I have a (U.S.) citizen daughter, but you never know with (the) immigration (authorities)," she said. EFE