An Irish woman who has lived legally in the US for four decades has been detained by immigration officials for the last week because of a criminal record dating back almost 20 years.

Cliona Ward, 54, was detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April after returning from Ireland to visit her sick father and is being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility in Tacoma, Washington.

Ward holds a green card but has convictions for drug possession from 2007 and 2008, which she believed had been expunged, her family said.

  • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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    12 hours ago

    Other than distance traveled, the time afforded to travel said distance, and providing the requisite documents needed to cross a border(which she had)

    So then not the same at all? And we know she didn’t have all the documents she needed because she had to go get some.

    It says in the article that she presented them with documentation of the expungement of her charges.

    That would have been a month after the initial detainment. That’s why she had to leave to go get the documents. She didn’t have it with her at the initial detainment. That’s my point. She likely filled out some form incorrectly which didn’t match up with what their database says. And now they are detaining her until it’s cleared up by a court. It sucks, sure… but this is how it goes.

    • GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social
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      11 hours ago

      What are you not getting about this situation? She traveled with no issue for 2 decades before this. Why would you need to travel with expungement documents in the first place. That doesn’t apply to travel at all, which is why she was released to get them. Being detained by ICE indefinitely isn’t a “that sucks…but that’s just how it goes sometimes” situation. And that’s why there’s an article about it. But if you want keep licking boots, you might just get to the center. I won’t stop you.

      • Saik0@lemmy.saik0.com
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        11 hours ago

        But if you want keep licking boots, you might just get to the center. I won’t stop you.

        WAAHHHH I have nothing to say so I’ll talk about boots!

        I’m not sure why so many people have a foot fetish on the fediverse. It’s kind of sad.