from reading the article I am wondering why he would be deported to the Dominican Republic?
The DR does not qualify for the Visa Waiver program, so he would have had to qualify due to his Spanish citizenship, an entered from spain.
Deport yes but not to the DR. back to Spain he goes. Same would apply to the ESTA program, again not eligible from the DR.
Mendez, who has dual citizenship in Spain and Dominican Republic, came to the United States legally in 2014 under the Visa Waiver Program but violated the program's terms by overstaying his visit for more than two years, the Detroit office of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.
Article does not say where the girlfriend is from or how she entered the country, would believe she had been in the US much longer as her son is a US citizen(so was born in the US). No mention of her being deported.
According to the following article she has a pending application for a U Visa, which grants legal residency to victims of serious crime who cooperate with law enforcement
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...year-olds-daddy-faces-deportation/1006102001/
much better article on the subject
Ricky Solis, born in November 2011 at University of Cincinnati Medical Center to an undocumented Guatemalan national.
Ricky was riding in a booster seat in the back seat of the car driven by his mother, Sandra Mendoza, 24, when they were hit broadside. (would explain the injuries to the boy even if belted in)
At the time of the auto accident, the boy and his mother had been living for two years with Mendez, who has dual citizenship in Spain and the Dominican Republic but had moved to the United States to find higher-paying work. (another violation of the visa waiver program as your not allowed to work just visit.)
Mendoza was brought to the United States illegally by her parents. She has twice been denied temporary permission to stay through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, otherwise known as DACA.