Woman released after 4 months in ICE detention following immigration hearing

BOSTON – It was an emotional reunion for a mother detained by ICE for four months.

Brazilian national Lucimar de Souza was arrested after an interview about her immigration status in January and had no idea when or if she would see her family again.

It was that uncertainty that made four months in detention so difficult, and what made the moment she returned home to her 10-year-old son such a special surprise.

“He was coming to me and hugging me and smiling. I never imagined he was crying,” she said.

De Souza, who illegally entered the country 16 years ago, had been detained at the Suffolk County House of Corrections. Her young son was devastated.

“He went to the jail to see me and he always he asks me mom can I stay here with you because my house, it’s not the same,” she said.

In January, de Souza and her husband who's a US Citizen attended an interview at the offices of Citizen and Immigration Services to confirm her marriage status and continue with her visa application, but immediately after, she was detained.

“When I finished the interview, I was leaving when they opened the door had five ICE officers waiting for me,” she said.

The couple joined an ACLU class action lawsuit against the trump administration accusing the government of setting them up, misleading immigrants trying to legalize their immigration status through their spouses and then having ICE ready to arrest them.

The Department of Homeland Security has since admitted they violated de Souza's right to due process by failing to properly notify her of a custody review 30-days in advance.

“The court decided, it ruled correctly that ICE had violated its own procedures by failing to in a timely manner review Lucimar’s files to determine whether she actually needed to be in custody,” Jonathan Cox, a senior associate at Wilmerhale, said.

It was music to her ears.

“When I heard her telling we decided to release her today, and my heart it’s like, blow. I start to shake,” she said.

Though de Souza is home, her attorneys have a lot more work to do. They’re now looking at the broader issue of ICE detaining people seeking legal immigration status, and trying to demonstrate in court that is unconstitutional.

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