Woman in US for Nearly 3 Decades Arrested by ICE After Traffic Stop

Newsweek

a day ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Mirta Amarilis Co Tupul, a 38-year-old Phoenix resident who has lived in the United States for almost 30 years, was detained after a traffic stop and nearly deported immediately thereafter before her lawyers helped move her into standard removal proceedings, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The Guatemalan immigrant was initially transported to the Florence Processing Center. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records show Co Tupul is currently being held at the Eloy Detention Center in Eloy, Arizona, roughly 65 miles from Phoenix.
Newsweek reached out to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Co Tupul's case highlights questions about the government's use of expedited removal, a procedure that her attorneys and advocates say is meant for recent arrivals, but they allege it has been more broadly applied by Trump administration immigration officials.
In January, the Trump administration expanded expedited removal to its full extent to apply to undocumented persons who are apprehended anywhere in the U.S., cannot prove they have resided in the U.S. for at least two years, and, entered the U.S. between ports of entry or were paroled into the U.S. and have their parole status revoked, according to the National Immigration Forum.
Civil rights lawyers said the episode illustrated legal and humanitarian risks for long-term residents who lack counsel when immigration officers move quickly to remove people without a court hearing, an issue that has drawn renewed attention amid increased immigration enforcement actions.
Law enforcement officers search the inside of a car during a traffic stop on August 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.
Law enforcement officers search the inside of a car during a traffic stop on August 14, 2025, in Washington, D.C.What To Know
Co Tupul was stopped by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agent while driving to work at a laundromat on July 22 in a predominantly Latino area of Phoenix, according to her attorneys in court documents.
She entered the U.S. at age 9 and has lived continuously in the country since that time. She is a single mother of three children (ages 8, 16 and 18), all U.S. citizens.
Three days after the traffic stop, legal counsel for Co Tupul was informed that she was placed in expedited removal proceedings and would be removed in one to three weeks. The removal officer reportedly explained ICE had a "new policy" of utilizing expedited removal for noncitizens with "their first contact with ICE."
Lawyers submitted evidence of her decades-long presence in the U.S., including vaccination records, other official records and sixteen signed affidavits.
Their legal complaint on her behalf claimed that the traffic stop of Co Tupul violated her Fourth Amendment rights "as it lacked reasonable suspicion and, as a result, any evidence obtained must be excluded from her immigration proceedings."
They also said in legal briefs that she was statutorily ineligible to be placed in expedited removal proceedings due to being physically present in the U.S. for 30 years. Her placement in expedited removal proceedings violated her due process rights, they also argued.
On Wednesday, August 13, she and her attorneys received positive news when a U.S. district court judge in Arizona dismissed the case and moved Co Tupul to regular deportation proceedings. It was also agreed that the government would not attempt to remove her expeditiously again.
The judge in that case granted the lawyers' emergency request due to the timing of the matter.
The federal government subsequently moved Co Tupul into regular removal proceedings and committed in writing not to pursue expedited removal in her case, after which the judge dismissed the lawsuit, according to the attorneys and DHS.
Attorneys said a deportation officer had told Co Tupul that a "new policy" allowed immigration officials to use expedited removal at the first interaction with immigrants, a practice they argued conflicted with long-standing limits on expedited removal.
Federal law enacted in the 1990s established expedited removal procedures intended to apply primarily to recent arrivals, a point raised by Co Tupul's lawyers as they challenged the government's actions.
Department of Homeland Security officials later confirmed that ICE filed Co Tupul into regular removal proceedings after reviewing the case.
What People Are Saying
Eric Lee, a lawyer for Mirta Amarilis Co Tupul, in an X post on August 4: "Good news: Our demand that the court halt Trump from deporting Ms. Co Tupul without due process as just GRANTED by U.S. Dist. Ct. for District of Arizona! Judge says Trump admin is 'enjoined from removing Petitioner Mirta Amarilis Co Tupul from the United States...'"
Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons on Fox News on Thursday: "I don't think the American public as a whole realizes just exactly who ICE is going after every day."
What Happens Next
The government's next steps in the matter remained unclear after the district court dismissed the suit. Co Tupul's attorneys warned that similar attempts could recur in cases where immigrants lacked legal representation.