From Orphan to Deportation: Maria Pires’ Struggles in the U.S.

Fri Oct 17 2025 04:12:38 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

Maria Pires, adopted from Brazil, faced a tumultuous life marked by abuse and later, deportation. Her story explores the complexities of her identity and the harsh realities of immigration enforcement.

Maria Pires believed adoption would free her from a troubled past, but it led to years of abuse and violence in the U.S. After her release from prison, she faced immigration challenges that resulted in her deportation back to Brazil, where she is now struggling to rebuild her life.

It sounded like freedom, a world of possibility beyond the orphanage walls, as Maria Pires was officially adopted. At just 11 years old, she saw herself escaping chaos in a São Paulo orphanage, where violence and sexual abuse had marked her childhood. Instead, her adoptive father, Floyd Sykes III, became her tormentor. After enduring nearly three years of abuse, Maria was eventually placed in foster care following Sykes’ arrest.

Maria believed she was now an American, but that illusion shattered as she grappled with the aftermath of her abusive past.

Repeatedly, she found herself in trouble, ultimately serving time in prison where she learned that her citizenship claim was based on incomplete paperwork that left her stateless.

Upon release, Maria struggled to keep her anger in check, make a living, and assimilate into life. Yet, her troubles with the law continued, resulting in further incarceration.

Seizing a second chance, Maria turned her life around, but routine check-ins with immigration authorities led to her unsuspected detention and deportation back to Brazil in 2023, a land she barely remembers.

Now, in a shelter, she faces the uncertainties of rebuilding her life with limited connections and resources, while holding a faint hope of returning to the U.S. and beginning anew.