NEW ROCKFORD (AP) - This community is rallying behind a nurse and her family who face deportation for overstaying their visas.

Marina Arroyo, who is from the Philippines, her husband and their three children were arrested last week after a traffic stop for a broken headlight.

The work visa for Arroyo expired three years ago, said Tim Counts, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Bloomington, Minn. He said the entire Arroyo family is in violation of their visas.

"Anyone here on a temporary visa is required to leave before it expires," he said. "Making an application for another visa doesn't give one the right to remain here."

Eric Arroyo and the three boys were released from custody Thursday, a day after an Eddy County deputy sheriff discovered Marina Arroyo's expired visa during the traffic stop for a headlight that was out.

The New Rockford community raised $15,000 to post bond for Marina Arroyo on Friday.

The family now faces a deportation hearing in January, in Minneapolis.

"It's absolutely a nightmare," said Kent Braunberger, a family friend and funeral home director in New Rockford. "These are the kind of people that we want in North Dakota."

Braunberger said Marina Arroyo was recruited from the Philippines several years ago because of a shortage of nurses in rural North Dakota.

Arroyo first worked at a medical center in Harvey, but soon was transferred to the Lutheran Home of the Good Shepherd nursing home in New Rockford, Braunberger said.

"The nursing home is crying for nurses all the time, and it's tough to fill those jobs in small communities," said Michael Nicolai, a New Rockford chiropractor.

"We just think highly of the family," Nicolai said. "I am hoping that it will work out so they get to stay because it's just a great loss to our community if they ended up having to leave."

Arroyo's problems started when a past administration at the Lutheran home failed to keep Arroyo's visa paperwork up to date, Braunberger said.

Gutzke said she worked with Arroyo to try to get her visa renewed. She said they gave the government everything they asked for but officials kept denying Arroyo a green card.

"This is the kind of immigrant we would be proud to have in our communities," Braunberger said. "These people are loved in this town."

It doesn't look good for the Arroyos.

"It's very clear," Counts said. "Once a visa is expired, you must go home now."

"That's what's so incredibly frustrating about this deal," Braunberger said. "We seem to deport the good people because we can find them. The ones you and I and most people think should be deported aren't because we can't find them."