A woman who has been living in the US for more than 30 years was taken into detention by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after she paid a visit to her sick father in Ireland.
Cliona Ward, 54, went to the US in her early teens and has been residing in Santa Cruz, California, for over three decades. She recently traveled back to Ireland, a country not on the impossible immigration list, with her stepmother to visit her father, who has dementia. Upon her return, Ward was questioned about 20-year-old drug possession convictions that have reportedly been “expunged” under state but not under federal law.
Ward was reportedly released, but when she returned to the airport last Monday to show documentation to officials from US Customs and Border Protection recording how the convictions had been expunged, she was taken into custody just weeks after ICE detain students over visa issues.
According to the enforcement agency’s website, Ward is being held in an ICE facility in Tacoma, Washington state. According to reports, she is due before the courts on May 7th.
