A Lithuanian woman faces immediate deportation from the U.S.: she was detained right in the middle of her green card interview
Airaida Gould, a resident of a Chicago suburb and a native of Lithuania, is facing immediate deportation from the United States. Officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained her right in the middle of her green card interview.
Gould has now been in ICE custody for more than two months. She was initially transferred from a temporary detention center in Broadview, Illinois, to a facility in Brazil, Indiana, where she described the conditions as “horrible.”
“They probably treat pets better than this. This place should be shut down,” Gould said during a video call with her husband and attorney.
According to her, she is currently being held at a women’s facility in Kentucky along with 13 other women. Conditions there are somewhat better, but the inmates receive almost no fresh food, and they are allowed out for exercise for only three hours a week.
A Family on the Brink of Divorce
Ayrida is separated from her husband Mark, a U.S. Army veteran, and their two sons. The family can only communicate via text messages and rare video calls.
She said that when she was detained, she wasn’t even allowed to say goodbye to her loved ones. According to her, ICE agents admitted that such cases had never happened before, but explained the situation by citing the administration’s new policy, noting that they were simply doing their jobs.
“A Race Against Time”
The reason for her detention was an old deportation order issued nearly 17 years ago. Although Ayrida’s new immigration case is currently pending, her attorney—former immigration judge Carla Espinoza—warns that ICE could deport her before her appeal is heard.
According to the lawyer, it’s now a real race against time: if deportation occurs before the court’s decision, the chance to obtain legal status in the U.S. could be lost for good.
Ayrida’s husband admits that he lives in constant fear of bad news every day and hopes that the family will still manage to be together again.
This story was shared on Instagram by chicago24online.
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