ICE arrests foreign student at US airport while she heads for vacation with boyfriend

Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez.

A 23-year-old UC Berkeley student from Colombia was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents at San Francisco International Airport while waiting to board a flight to Portland for a vacation with her boyfriend, Berkeleyside reported. Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez is currently being held at ICE's California City Detention Center. Her arrest has prompted protests and support efforts from fellow students and university officials, while immigration lawyers have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention. Albornoz Hernandez arrived in the US in September 2022 and overstayed her visa, but subsequently applied for asylum, citing severe gender-based violence in Colombia. Her application is still pending, and she had a valid work permit, according to her attorney Niko De Bremaeker of Centro Legal de la Raza. She was travelling to Portland with her boyfriend on Friday when an ICE agent in plain clothes approached her in the airport's departure area and asked her name. The agent reportedly guessed her identity three times before she confirmed it. ICE agents then separated the couple and informed her that she was being detained because her visa had expired. Her boyfriend, identified only as Anthony, described the arrest as frightening, saying he felt helpless as agents separated them.

DHS defends arrest

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that ICE agents had detained Albornoz Hernandez at the airport. It said she had entered the country legally on September 6, 2022, with permission to stay until March 6, 2023, but had failed to leave after her authorised period expired. The department said she would receive due process and remain in ICE custody while removal proceedings were underway. It also maintained that having a work permit or a pending asylum application did not grant her legal immigration status. Her lawyers, however, have challenged the detention in a federal court, arguing that ICE officers did not present a warrant or assess whether she posed a flight risk before taking her into custody. The petition seeks her release and asks the court to prevent further detention unless the government establishes that she poses a flight risk or a danger to the community.

University seeks her release

UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons also expressed concern over the detention, describing Albornoz Hernandez as an outstanding student and asking authorities to allow her to resume her studies. The arrest could be the first detention of an active UC Berkeley student by ICE since the Trump administration began its mass deportation drive last year, according to the university and her attorney. Albornoz Hernandez, who previously attended San Jose City College, was studying business administration at Berkeley and conducting research on artificial intelligence. She is scheduled to appear before an immigration court on November 17. Her lawyers' federal challenge to the detention is a separate legal proceeding.