WESLACO – A Rio Grande Valley woman’s son was severely injured in a car accident and flown to San Antonio. She knew she wasn’t allowed to cross the checkpoint but she tried anyway and now may face deportation.

Erik Galvan is recovering in a San Antonio hospital following a car crash. His mother, Esther Olarte Ferrer, recently saw her son for the first time following an ordeal.

Ferrer was detained and then released by immigration authorities.

Galvan’s organs were damaged in the crash. The teen was air lifted from Pharr to San Antonio. The family feared he could die.

Ferrer is in the country illegally. Last Friday, she took off from the Valley to San Antonio wanting to see her son.

Ferrer’s sister, Galvan’s aunt, recalled what her sister told her.

“She was desperate. She wanted to be with her son. She said, ‘I’m going to turn myself in at the checkpoint to get permission to go see him,’” the aunt said.

Ferrer spoke to McAllen attorney Alejandro Martinez, who told her to get paperwork together, including birth certificates for her four U.S.-born children, pictures of her injured son and Ferrer’s U.S. grade school records.

Martinez said Ferrer was in the U.S. for more than 20 years. She drove with the documents, stopping at the Falfurrias checkpoint.

Martinez said she asked to be released on her own recognizance.

“If you’ve been here for a long time, you have strong ties through your family members, and then you have a medical condition on a minor child, who’s an American citizen, who is in a critical medical condition, those situations warrant the discretion to release that person on their own recognizance,” he said.

Martinez said Ferrer was detained Friday by Border Patrol. He said she was transferred to ICE custody over the weekend.

This week, ICE said she was eventually released on her own recognizance.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS asked Border Patrol about the claim that someone in these circumstances could request release on their own recognizance. They did not respond.

We asked the same question to ICE. They responded saying custody determinations are case by case, considering many factors, including humanitarian concerns.

ICE said factors include but are not limited to the following: criminal history, compliance history, immigration legal stage, community ties and other humanitarian concerns.

The mother and son are together for now.

“It’s the only reason she wanted to go, to see her son,” the aunt said.

Ferrer has a court date set. A judge will decide if she stays in the country.