Latest news with #AntoniaAguilarMaldonado
The Independent
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Judge orders ICE to release mom who came to the US as an unaccompanied minor a decade ago
A federal judge has ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release a young mother who came to the U.S. as an unaccompanied minor from El Salvador almost a decade ago. Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, who doesn't have a criminal record, was detained by ICE officers on July 17 and was taken to the Kandiyohi County jail in central Minnesota. Her two young children were born in the U.S. and are citizens. A senior U.S. District Court Judge ordered the 26-year-old's release on a $10,000 bond as her immigration case progresses. She was set to be released on Wednesday, even as the Department of Homeland Security took steps to deport her. According to Fox 9, her attorney, Gloria Contreras Edin, said, 'She wants to be reunited with her children immediately.' "The breast milk that she's feeding her toddler is the only thing that her toddler can take,' she added. 'He is allergic to other forms of milk. And so, unfortunately, this baby has been without his mother's milk now for 26 days, and she wants to get to him right away and start nursing." As of Monday, more than 60,000 people were in immigration detention, breaking a record set during President Donald Trump 's first stint in office, internal ICE records reveal, according to The New York Times. In January, about 39,000 people were in immigration custody. The previous spike came in August 2019, when 55,654 people were detained. Trump has made the increased crackdown on immigration one of the top priorities of his second term. A previous ruling by an immigration judge stated that Aguilar Maldonado, who's seeking asylum and lives in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, wasn't a public safety threat, nor a flight risk. DHS appealed the ruling to keep the mother in custody. Attorneys for Aguilar Maldonado moved the dispute to the U.S. District Court in Minnesota, requesting that a federal judge order her release via a Habeas Corpus petition on July 31. Following Tuesday's oral arguments, senior U.S. District Court Judge Susan Richard Nelson ordered that she be released on bond. One of Aguilar Maldonado's lawyers, Hannah Brown, told Fox 9, "We are feeling very relieved that the judge made the right decision in this case.' Brown told the court on Tuesday that Aguilar Maldonado was suffering from emotional and mental distress due to the separation from her children. She added that her client faces physical harm as she can't pump on a set schedule or in sanitary conditions. Nelson said from the bench that ICE had violated their own policies for pregnant and nursing mothers. She noted that while ICE argues that an executive order from Trump, signed in January, revoked the rule, "nowhere in that policy is there a mention of nursing mothers." She went on to argue that agents made a 'mistake' when arresting Aguilar Maldonado, according to CBS Minnesota. "In the court's view, the irreparable harm to separating a nursing mother and her child is self-evident," said Nelson. A close friend of the mother, Telma Vides, said, "It is just amazing what God can do to get her out where it was not a possibility." Vides and Aguilar Maldonado are members of St. Paul church, which helped raise $10,000 for the bond. Church members were in the federal courtroom on Tuesday and erupted into a standing ovation when the release order came down. "These three weeks [have] been a roller coaster," Vides added. "No and then yes, and then no and yes, and tomorrow, next week, and then another court date and another court day, and then nothing. And we were like, 'What is going to happen? Is she really going to come out?' Are they really going to release her?'" Aguilar Maldonado was set to post her $10,000 bond on Wednesday, leading to her release. Her immigration case continues next Tuesday when she's set to return to court for proceedings as the government attempts to have her deported as an illegal immigrant.
CBS News
13-08-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Nursing mother in ICE custody in Minnesota to be released from detention, judge rules
A nursing mother who has spent more than three weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody will soon be reunited with her children following a federal judge's ruling on Tuesday. Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, 26, was arrested by federal agents on July 17. She came to the United States from El Salvador as a teenager and has no criminal history. She is now seeking asylum and lives in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Her attorneys filed a writ of habeas corpus challenging her detention because an immigration judge authorized her release on bond on July 31. Soon after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security then filed an automatic stay to keep her in custody at the Kandiyohi County Jail despite that order. They sought injunctive relief to block that from taking effect and require her release while her case moves forward. Hannah Brown, one of her attorneys, told the court Tuesday that her client is experiencing emotional and mental distress while separated from her two U.S. citizen children, including her youngest whom she is breastfeeding. She also said she faces physical harm because she cannot pump on a set schedule or in sanitary conditions. U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson delivered a ruling from the bench in St. Paul after each side made their arguments, ultimately granting the request for a temporary restraining order which will force her release. She rejected the government's argument that Aguilar Maldonado's detention was allowable by law and said ICE violated its own policies for pregnant and nursing mothers. Nelson said ICE contends that a January executive order from President Donald Trump revoked that rule, but "nowhere in that policy is there a mention of nursing mothers." "In the court's view, the irreparable harm to separating a nursing mother and her child is self-evident," she said. She added that her case is a civil matter yet Aguilar Maldonado is being held in conditions "indiscriminable" to criminal detention and that agents made a "mistake" when they arrested her. A written ruling will follow later this week. Aguilar Maldonado's attorneys said she will be released as soon as she posts bond, likely early Wednesday morning. The court room was packed with friends, congregants at Aguilar Maldonado's local church and other community members who observed the hearing. They erupted into applause once it was over, celebrating her release. Her church helped raise money to pay her bond. "A lot of people can relate to Ms. Aguilar Maldonado's situation and to her story. And there are folks here who know her and folks here who don't know her," Brown said. "And I think it was really beautiful to see so many people, so many Minnesotans, showing their support for a young mother who does not need to be detained." Aguilar Maldonado came to the U.S. in 2017 as a minor, granting her special protections, and had a removal order in 2019 for failing to attend a hearing. But an immigration judge reopened her case last year after finding she wasn't given notice of that court appearance, Gloria Contreras Edin, another one of her attorneys told WCCO in an interview. Since then, she has been doing "everything right," she added, and filed for asylum and obtained work authorization. Her arrest on July 17 came as a surprise. When asked about Aguilar Maldonado's case, a spokesperson for ICE provided the following statement to WCCO: "By statute, we have no information on this person." "[Her son] is allergic to other forms of milk, and so unfortunately, this baby has been without his mother's milk now for 26 days, and she wants to get to him right away and start nursing," Contreras Edin told reporters Tuesday. Contreras Edin and Brown said she will remain free as her writ of habeas corpus petition proceeds. The government is also appealing the immigration judge's earlier ruling late last month. The judge said she does not have a removal order at this time. Telma Vides, a friend of Aguilar Maldonado, spoke with her friend soon after the hearing and said she was excited and crying nonstop when she learned that should be released. "It's just amazing what God can do to get her out," Vides said. "It just kept going up and down and up—it's been a roller coaster all these three weeks."
CBS News
12-08-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Nursing mother in Twin Cities unlawfully detained by ICE, attorney says
The attorneys for a nursing mother in the Twin Cities who has spent more than three weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody argue she is unlawfully detained and will petition in federal court on Tuesday for her release. Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, 26, has two young children who are U.S. citizens and lives in Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and was taken into custody on July 17. Gloria Contreras Edin and Hannah Brown, who are representing her pro bono, submitted a writ of habeas corpus petition challenging her continued detention. They argue she should be released on bond in accordance with an immigration judge's earlier decision on July 31, to which the Department of Homeland Security filed an automatic stay, which has kept her in the Kandiyohi County Jail. "I've had over 1,000 cases before the immigration courts, and in all of my years and in all of my experience, I haven't seen anything like this before, especially when someone is lactating, has small baby at home, no criminal history, and then being detained for so long," Contreras Edin said in an interview. "It just goes against ICE's policies. It just seems wrong." There is a hearing on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in St. Paul seeking emergency relief. In court filings, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Maldonado's detention is "fully supported by statute, regulation and the Constitution" and that "her detention is lawful because she is an applicant for admission who is not 'clearly and beyond a doubt entitled to be admitted' to the United States," writing that Maldonado "herself does not claim that she has lawful status to remain in the United States." The government is asking the judge to reject the motion for a temporary restraining order. "We should respect the fact that our country can and should enforce immigration laws. I think that's important," Contreras Edin said. "But I also think that we should recognize an element of humanitarian interests and concerns, right? We don't want a US citizen baby being deprived of his mother's milk. This is about a mother and a baby." Maldonado came to the U.S. as a teenager in 2017 and had a removal order in 2019 for failing to attend a hearing. But an immigration judge reopened her case last year after finding she wasn't given notice of that court appearance, her attorney said. Since then, she has been doing "everything right," Contreras Edin explained, and filed for asylum, obtained work authorization and has no criminal history. Her arrest on July 17 came as a surprise. "In my practice during removal proceedings, someone like Ms. Maldonado would have normally been released on a bond and then proceed with a non-detained docket, and would have been allowed to appear before an immigration judge while being able to be with her family and her children," she said. Contreras Edin described her client as depressed and distraught and said she has to pump breast milk and dump it in the sink. "She's imagining the wailing of her baby every night, and that's what she goes to bed to, and now her milk is turning green," she said. Her children are currently staying with relatives. When asked about Maldonado's case, a spokesperson for ICE provided the following statement to WCCO: "By statute, we have no information on this person." Contreras Edin said she is hopeful a judge will authorize the release of Maldonado, pointing to a similar case involving a Turkish graduate student at the University of Minnesota who was detained by ICE and later released.
