Latest news with #PaolaClouatre
CNN
5 days ago
- CNN
‘Mom is home again with you': Marine veteran's wife reunites with children after months in ICE detention
When Paola Clouatre arrived home, her young son Noah glanced at her sideways. He covered his face, turned around, looked back again. 'It was as if he couldn't believe that the person there was me, his mom,' Clouatre says, as she recalls the moment she was reunited with her family, two months after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while breastfeeding her three-month-old baby. The first thing she did when Noah recognized her was hug him. 'I said to him: 'It's Mom. Mom is home again with you.'' The second thing she did was breastfeed her baby, Lyn. 'I couldn't believe I was home again, it was like a shock,' Clouatre tells CNN from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as she cradles Lyn, and Noah runs around the room scribbling on a piece of paper. Next to her is her husband Adrián, a Marine Corps veteran who fought tirelessly for her release. Clouatre, born in Mexico, had come to the United States in 2014 with her mother. She was 14 years old. She soon lost contact with her and spent her teenage years in homeless shelters. In 2022 she met Adrian. Shortly after, they had Noah. In February 2024, they got married and later, little Lyn was born. On May 27, the couple went to an adjustment of status interview, hoping to advance the process for Clouatre to obtain her permanent residence or green card. Just a week before, they had learned that there was a deportation order against her, because she had not attended a hearing whose notice had been sent to her mother, and the young woman never found out. Clouatre was detained on the spot and transferred to ICE's rural detention center in Monroe, four hours from her home. Clouatre says she never imagined she would end up detained. She spent several days in shock, trying to process what was happening. She didn't even have time to say goodbye to her children. 'It was very hard. I missed my family, my children, my husband. I had a lot of anxiety, depression,' she recalls. 'Sometimes I didn't eat, other times I ate too much out of anxiety. I cried a lot.' But for her, most painful were the visits from her children. Her husband made the long trip to the detention center as often as possible so Clouatre could see the kids and continue breastfeeding the baby. He also managed to get her a breast pump to prevent her milk supply from drying up. 'When he brought me the children, I would hug my little girl, breastfeed her, but it was only for a while. When the visit ended, I had to say goodbye. My son would grab my hand, walk with me, he didn't want to let go. He cried when they took him away. Goodbyes were the most painful,' Clouatre recalls. Several times, she says, she was told they told her she could be put on a plane and deported at any moment. 'I thought: 'And if I go to Mexico? Where will I go? With whom? I don't talk with my family. I didn't know how I would survive. I worried a lot. My husband and I talked about it all the time, about what would happen to me, how I would communicate, how I would move forward,' she says. Her husband had told CNN in a previous interview, while she was still detained, that deportation was an unthinkable scenario for them, since his wife no longer had any ties in Mexico. 'They mixed us all together: people with no criminal record with people who did have criminal records,' she says. 'There were about 105 women in my dormitory.' The routine was strict and the tension constant, she recalls. CNN asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the detention conditions mentioned by Clouatre, but did not receive a response on this specific point. But when posed with other questions from migrants and human rights organizations about ICE detention centers, DHS responded that 'all detainees receive adequate food, medical treatment, and have the opportunity to communicate with their families and lawyers' and that 'ensuring the safety and well-being of people in our custody is an absolute priority at ICE.' A week ago, after her husband and his lawyer Carey Holliday tried by every possible means to secure Clouatre's release, she was finally able to leave the detention center and reunite with her family. Her husband told CNN that a judge suspended the deportation order. Then, Senator John Kennedy's office submitted a request to DHS for the woman to be released, the AP reported. Asked by CNN, DHS said that 'Members of Congress have no influence over whom ICE arrests, detains, or subjects to immigration procedures … DHS enforces the law. Period,' they responded by email, in a statement attributed to Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. 'Lisette Paola Rosas-Campos (Clouatre) filed a motion to reopen her immigration case on May 27, 2025, and requested an emergency stay of deportation from an immigration judge. The immigration judge granted the motion and she was released from ICE custody while her immigration process continues,' the DHS statement says. Clouatre must now wear an electronic ankle monitor and report to an official every two weeks as one of the conditions for her release. What's next? 'We're trying to get our lives back. Looking for an apartment in Louisiana. We want to establish a normal life,' says her husband. 'I understand the law has to be enforced, but there must also be humanity. There are people waiting for their residency. They are not criminals. They have children. They shouldn't be treated like criminals,' says the Marine veteran. Clouatre's legal process could last several years before it is formally closed, but she could eventually obtain her green card, said Holliday, the couple's lawyer, as quoted by AP. Clouatre says she does not consider her detention to be fair. 'I felt bad. As if I had done something wrong. I felt guilty, even though I hadn't done anything wrong,' she explains. But now, speaking with CNN, she says she is happy to be back with her loved ones. And the children seem just as happy. Noah stops running and sits on his mother. He looks up, turns his face to the screen and says, 'Mama.'
CNN
5 days ago
- CNN
‘Mom is home again with you': Marine veteran's wife reunites with children after months in ICE detention
When Paola Clouatre arrived home, her young son Noah glanced at her sideways. He covered his face, turned around, looked back again. 'It was as if he couldn't believe that the person there was me, his mom,' Clouatre says, as she recalls the moment she was reunited with her family, two months after being detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while breastfeeding her three-month-old baby. The first thing she did when Noah recognized her was hug him. 'I said to him: 'It's Mom. Mom is home again with you.'' The second thing she did was breastfeed her baby, Lyn. 'I couldn't believe I was home again, it was like a shock,' Clouatre tells CNN from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, as she cradles Lyn, and Noah runs around the room scribbling on a piece of paper. Next to her is her husband Adrián, a Marine Corps veteran who fought tirelessly for her release. Clouatre, born in Mexico, had come to the United States in 2014 with her mother. She was 14 years old. She soon lost contact with her and spent her teenage years in homeless shelters. In 2022 she met Adrian. Shortly after, they had Noah. In February 2024, they got married and later, little Lyn was born. On May 27, the couple went to an adjustment of status interview, hoping to advance the process for Clouatre to obtain her permanent residence or green card. Just a week before, they had learned that there was a deportation order against her, because she had not attended a hearing whose notice had been sent to her mother, and the young woman never found out. Clouatre was detained on the spot and transferred to ICE's rural detention center in Monroe, four hours from her home. Clouatre says she never imagined she would end up detained. She spent several days in shock, trying to process what was happening. She didn't even have time to say goodbye to her children. 'It was very hard. I missed my family, my children, my husband. I had a lot of anxiety, depression,' she recalls. 'Sometimes I didn't eat, other times I ate too much out of anxiety. I cried a lot.' But for her, most painful were the visits from her children. Her husband made the long trip to the detention center as often as possible so Clouatre could see the kids and continue breastfeeding the baby. He also managed to get her a breast pump to prevent her milk supply from drying up. 'When he brought me the children, I would hug my little girl, breastfeed her, but it was only for a while. When the visit ended, I had to say goodbye. My son would grab my hand, walk with me, he didn't want to let go. He cried when they took him away. Goodbyes were the most painful,' Clouatre recalls. Several times, she says, she was told they told her she could be put on a plane and deported at any moment. 'I thought: 'And if I go to Mexico? Where will I go? With whom? I don't talk with my family. I didn't know how I would survive. I worried a lot. My husband and I talked about it all the time, about what would happen to me, how I would communicate, how I would move forward,' she says. Her husband had told CNN in a previous interview, while she was still detained, that deportation was an unthinkable scenario for them, since his wife no longer had any ties in Mexico. 'They mixed us all together: people with no criminal record with people who did have criminal records,' she says. 'There were about 105 women in my dormitory.' The routine was strict and the tension constant, she recalls. CNN asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the detention conditions mentioned by Clouatre, but did not receive a response on this specific point. But when posed with other questions from migrants and human rights organizations about ICE detention centers, DHS responded that 'all detainees receive adequate food, medical treatment, and have the opportunity to communicate with their families and lawyers' and that 'ensuring the safety and well-being of people in our custody is an absolute priority at ICE.' A week ago, after her husband and his lawyer Carey Holliday tried by every possible means to secure Clouatre's release, she was finally able to leave the detention center and reunite with her family. Her husband told CNN that a judge suspended the deportation order. Then, Senator John Kennedy's office submitted a request to DHS for the woman to be released, the AP reported. Asked by CNN, DHS said that 'Members of Congress have no influence over whom ICE arrests, detains, or subjects to immigration procedures … DHS enforces the law. Period,' they responded by email, in a statement attributed to Deputy Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. 'Lisette Paola Rosas-Campos (Clouatre) filed a motion to reopen her immigration case on May 27, 2025, and requested an emergency stay of deportation from an immigration judge. The immigration judge granted the motion and she was released from ICE custody while her immigration process continues,' the DHS statement says. Clouatre must now wear an electronic ankle monitor and report to an official every two weeks as one of the conditions for her release. What's next? 'We're trying to get our lives back. Looking for an apartment in Louisiana. We want to establish a normal life,' says her husband. 'I understand the law has to be enforced, but there must also be humanity. There are people waiting for their residency. They are not criminals. They have children. They shouldn't be treated like criminals,' says the Marine veteran. Clouatre's legal process could last several years before it is formally closed, but she could eventually obtain her green card, said Holliday, the couple's lawyer, as quoted by AP. Clouatre says she does not consider her detention to be fair. 'I felt bad. As if I had done something wrong. I felt guilty, even though I hadn't done anything wrong,' she explains. But now, speaking with CNN, she says she is happy to be back with her loved ones. And the children seem just as happy. Noah stops running and sits on his mother. He looks up, turns his face to the screen and says, 'Mama.'
CBS News
01-08-2025
- CBS News
Wife of Marine veteran, mother of 2 young kids, released from ICE detention after 2 months
Editor's note: Adrian Clouatre spoke about his wife's detention in the video above from June 23, when she was still being held. BATON ROUGE, La. — A wife of a Marine Corps veteran and mother of two was released from ICE custody on Monday after being detained in May during what she says she thought was a routine immigration office visit, she and her husband tell CBS News. "I feel like a mom again, because well, I was, at some points, I was feeling guilty, like I failed my kids, because I was, you know, without them," Paola Clouatre, 25, said in a phone interview Thursday. Asked how she feels being reunited with her husband and children, she said, "It feels good — good to be back with my family and my babies." She had just given birth to their second child and was still breastfeeding when she was detained on May 27. She was taken to an ICE detention facility in northern Louisiana, about four hours away from their Baton Rouge home. Her husband, Adrian Clouatre, would drive eight hours round-trip each week to visit with their infant daughter and 2-year-old son. "It was very difficult," Paola said. "They gave me a pump so I could pump milk and continue producing milk for when the baby came to be able to give it to her." Adrian Clouatre, 26, served in the Marine Corps for five years as an intelligence analyst. He said his wife was put in handcuffs in the lobby of an immigration enforcement field office in New Orleans after wrapping up a meeting with a staffer from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services about her green card application. "I was furious," he said in an interview with CBS News in June about the arrest. "I felt betrayed. They told us we passed the interview. ... They knew I was a veteran, they knew that my wife was breastfeeding our 9-week-old daughter, they knew we had two kids. ... I cried the whole way to my car after I left the building." Asked about the conditions she experienced during her time inside the detention facility, Paola said, "It's difficult to be there, because they have a lot of rules. They are very strict. So it's very, very, hard to be there." But this week, Adrian said he finally got the call he'd been hoping for — his wife said she was going to be released, and he needed to make the drive one last time to pick her up. "She called me from a CPO [officer's] phone, like one of the ICE agent's phones," he said. Paola said she didn't meet anyone else detained inside the facility who had a military family member or who was still breastfeeding. The couple met when he was still in the service in California, and they married in 2024. Adrian says his wife now wears a monitor on her ankle, as part of her condition of release on a recognizance bond, and has to check in every two weeks with an ICE parole officer. The couple had one such appointment Thursday morning. "It was good to meet him today in the morning," Paola said about meeting with the parole officer assigned to her case. "He is a nice person." Paola says she and her mother came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was a child, but her mother abandoned her when she was still a teenager, leaving Paola homeless. She said she hadn't spoken to her mother in years. It wasn't until this spring that she learned her mother had skipped a 2018 immigration hearing, and she says she had "no idea" the federal government had issued a deportation order against both of them as a result. "There was no way for her to know about the removal order," Adrian said. Adrian said they thought they were going through the proper channels to obtain a green card for Paola after their marriage, and the process had previously gone smoothly. Instead, Paola became one of tens of thousands of people in custody and facing deportation as the Trump administration pushes for immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day. As of June 27, arrests by ICE during President Trump's second term had reached 109,000 — an increase of about 120% from the same time period in 2024 under President Biden — according to a CBS News analysis of government data. The majority of those arrests took place in border and Southern states, figures show. After her release, Adrian says the family still has a long road ahead. First, he says they are seeking to get the deportation order dismissed. Then they will seek to obtain a status called "parole in place," which helps immediate family members of military service members have a more streamlined path to obtaining a green card. On June 9, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted on social media about the case, writing that when Paola Clouatre "was apprehended by @CBP and ordered removed by a judge in 2018, she chose to defy the order and stay in the U.S. 7 years later, she had another bad idea and applied for a Green Card. @ICEgov took her into custody at our New Orleans office. @DHSgov has a long memory and no tolerance for defiance when it comes to making America safe again." New federal priorities to detain immigrants with pending deportation orders are taking higher precedence than the deference previously afforded to military families, immigration law experts say. According to federal memos, the Trump administration has made any non-citizens with pending deportation orders a priority for arrests. During his wife's months in detention, Adrian sent letters to elected officials pleading for their help — even two letters to President Trump. He says it was office staff of Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedy that stepped up and advocated for his wife's case. CBS News has reached out to Kennedy's office for comment. "I'm ecstatic, I'm extremely grateful to my lawyer, to John Kennedy's office, and the community for all the support," Adrian said. Paola echoed those feelings of appreciation. "I feel happy, grateful," she said. "Thankful for the senator spending time with my husband. Thank you to the community."
New York Times
31-07-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
A Trump Ally Pressed for a Mexican Citizen's Release from ICE Custody
After nearly two months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, Paola Clouatre, 25, secured her release from a Louisiana detention center this week following an intervention from an unlikely source: a Republican lawmaker who has allied himself with President Trump. Officials who work in the office of Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican, requested that the Department of Homeland Security release Ms. Clouatre from detention after an immigration judge halted her deportation order, according to emails reviewed by The New York Times. Ms. Clouatre, a Mexican citizen, had been detained by ICE agents on May 27 while she was at a routine appointment in New Orleans related to her application for a green card and permanent resident status. Ms. Clouatre first entered the United States as a teenager to seek asylum with her mother and brother. The family was processed at the border in Tijuana, according to Ms. Clouatre and her lawyer, and was granted parole, which allows migrants to remain temporarily in the country. In 2018, Ms. Clouatre's mother failed to show up for a court hearing in California, leading a judge to issue a deportation order against Ms. Clouatre. By then, Ms. Clouatre was homeless and estranged from her mother, she said. She did not discover the deportation order until earlier this year, when she was already in the process of applying for a green card. Ms. Clouatre is married to Adrian Clouatre, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with whom she has two young children. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
CNN
30-07-2025
- Politics
- CNN
A Marine veteran's wife, detained by ICE while still breastfeeding, has been released
A Marine Corps veteran's wife has been released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention following advocacy from Sen. John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican who backs President Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown. Until this week, Mexican national Paola Clouatre had been one of tens of thousands of people in ICE custody as the Trump administration continues to press immigration officers to arrest 3,000 people a day suspected of being in the US illegally. Emails reviewed by The Associated Press show that Kennedy's office put in a request Friday for the Department of Homeland Security to release her after a judge halted her deportation order earlier that week. By Monday, she was out of a remote ICE detention center in north Louisiana and home in Baton Rouge with her veteran husband, Adrian Clouatre, and their two young children. Kennedy's constituent services representative, Christy Tate, congratulated Adrian Clouatre on his wife's release and thanked him for his military service. 'I am so happy for you and your family,' Tate wrote in an email to Adrian Clouatre. 'God is truly great!' Kennedy's office proved 'instrumental' in engaging with the Department of Homeland Security, according to Carey Holliday, the family's attorney. Kennedy's office did not provide further comment. Another Louisiana Republican, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also intervened recently with the Department of Homeland Security to secure the release of an Iranian mother from ICE detention following widespread outcry. The woman has lived for decades in New Orleans. Kennedy has generally been a staunch supporter of Trump's immigration policies. 'Illegal immigration is illegal – duh,' Kennedy posted on his Facebook page on July 17, amid a series of recent media appearances decrying efforts to prevent ICE officers from making arrests. In April, however, he criticized the Trump administration for mistakenly deporting a Maryland man. The Department of Homeland Security previously told The AP it considered Clouatre to be 'illegally' in the country. An email chain shared by Adrian Clouatre shows that the family's attorney reached out to Kennedy's office in early June after Paola Clouatre was detained in late May. Tate received Paola Clouatre's court documents by early July and said she then contacted ICE, according to the email exchange. On July 23, an immigration judge halted Paola Clouatre's deportation order. After Adrian Clouatre notified Kennedy's office, Tate said she 'sent the request to release' Paola Clouatre to DHS and shared a copy of the judge's motion with the agency, emails show. In an email several days later, Tate said that ICE told her it 'continues to make custody determinations on a case-by-case basis based on the specific circumstances of each case' and had received the judge's decision from Kennedy's office 'for consideration.' The next working day, Paola Clouatre was released from custody. 'We will continue to keep you, your family and others that are experiencing the same issues in our prayers,' Tate said in an email to Adrian Clouatre. 'If you need our assistance in the future, please contact us.' Paola Clouatre had been detained by ICE officers on May 27 during an appointment related to her green card application. She had entered the country as a minor with her mother from Mexico more than a decade ago and was legally processed while seeking asylum, she, her husband and her attorney say. But Clouatre's mother later failed to show up for a court date, leading a judge to issue a deportation order against Paola Clouatre in 2018, though by then she had become estranged from her mother and was homeless. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Clouatre's release. Adrian Clouatre said he wished the agency would 'actually look at the circumstances' before detaining people like his wife. 'It shouldn't just be like a blanket 'Oh, they're illegal, throw them in ICE detention.'' Reunited with her breastfeeding infant daughter and able to snuggle with her toddler son, Paola Clouatre told AP she feels like a mother again. 'I was feeling bad,' she said of detention. 'I was feeling like I failed my kids.' It will likely be a multiyear court process before Paola Clouatre's immigration court proceedings are formally closed, but things look promising, and she should be able to obtain her green card eventually, her attorney said. For now, she's wearing an ankle monitor, but still able to pick up life where she left off, her husband says. The day of her arrest in New Orleans, the couple had planned to sample some of the city's famed French pastries known as beignets and her husband says they'll finally get that chance again: 'We're going to make that day up.'
