Mother was allegedly trafficked to US and illegally detained by ICE while accused abuser is free, lawyers say | US news
A Venezuelan mother of two who was allegedly smuggled into the United States has been illegally detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and could soon be deported, according to her lawyers.
The woman has a visa designed for asylum seekers and victims of human trafficking.
But this January, during a routine check-in with authorities, she was arrested and separated from her two children, aged 18 months and four. Meanwhile, the smuggler who allegedly brought her to the United States after impregnating her and with false promises to live “together as a family” is also at large, according to a habeas petition filed with the court.
A key hearing in the coming weeks could decide his fate.
The woman’s lawyers claim her due process rights were violated. They filed a habeas corpus petition, seen by the Guardian, on February 11 and called for his immediate release.
The woman, whose identity the Guardian has concealed for security reasons and whom she will refer to by the pseudonym Flora, came to the USA from Colombia in 2023, but when she arrived at the house of the man who invited her, she saw that she had fallen into a nightmare.
The man allegedly “repeatedly raped her, forced her to perform unpaid domestic and commercial labor, and subjected her to severe physical violence, threats, isolation, food deprivation, and other forms of abuse,” according to the habeas petition filed in court in the western district of Louisiana.
His lawyers argue that his detention violated his due process rights because he was not considered a flight risk or a danger to society and was not given an opportunity to be heard before being deprived of his liberty.
Caroline Pizano, a senior staff attorney at the Human Trafficking Law Center, an organization in Washington, D.C., that connects human trafficking victims to charitable attorneys, said her client fled the alleged trafficker’s home in the midwest last year after calling police and a local nonprofit and later helped him move to the east coast.
But months later, the alleged smuggler traveled to Maryland and found the church where he had taken refuge, Pizano said. The Guardian reviewed the restraining order Maryland authorities filed against him and is not naming the alleged perpetrator for reasons related to the woman’s safety.
Pizano claimed there were “threats to harm children” in the midwest and that the foreign-born defendant also involved the “element of debt” typical of human trafficking cases.
When he arrived in the United States, he told her “he owed her money for the trip to the United States,” according to the habeas corpus petition. And he demanded that she “have sex with him and work to repay his debt to her.”
Flora had recently decided to report herself to federal authorities as a human trafficking victim. “I was in the process of reporting [the case] when he was detained,” Pizano said in Washington.
That same day, January 30, Pizano reported the alleged trafficking case to the state department’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). He said that on February 2, DSS confirmed in writing that the case had been turned over to Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The Guardian asked DHS several times about the status of any investigation into the alleged trafficker.
DHS responded through an unnamed spokesperson as follows: “Homeland Security Investigations received a tip regarding alleged human trafficking in the country. [name of state withheld by the Guardian]. HSI takes all credible tips regarding human trafficking seriously and thoroughly investigates each allegation. The brave men and women of DHS are the best in the world at going after human and sex traffickers. “Under President Trump, we are eliminating sex and human trafficking.”
At the time of publication, the status of Pizano’s report to authorities and the resulting investigation was unclear.
Flora was initially detained in Maryland during a monthly ICE check. After being detained for several days at a facility in Baltimore, he was transferred to a juvenile facility in Monroe, Louisiana, where he remains held.
Flora has no criminal record, according to her lawyers.
Meanwhile, his church community in Maryland took him in for months while he was homeless and is praying for his return.
Volunteer Diane Paulsell, who met Flora and her children multiple times through church, had accompanied Flora to two ICE check-ins, including the one that led to her detention in January.
He said that while he was waiting for Flora in a nearby cafe that day, he received a call from a number he did not recognize. Paulsell recalled that the ICE office called and asked to get Flora’s keys. He said that when he asked about Flora, they told him that the woman was “heading for Baltimore.”
“That’s when I realized they were taking him away,” Paulsell said.
Another church volunteer, Marty Mellett, provided him with legal and housing assistance and helped him open a new bank account when he feared the alleged trafficker might have accessed his finances.
During his time with Flora, Marty admitted to her that he was still afraid of the man he ran away from. “She is afraid that this man will come and take her children,” she said.
Meanwhile, a faith leader who spoke to Flora by phone most days and visited her in February while she was in custody in Louisiana, whose name and affiliation are being withheld to protect her identities in the case, said he saw her there “across a long table” and was allowed a “three-second hug” at the beginning and end of the visit.
He said Flora did her best to stay “positive” despite all the negativity.
At the facility in Louisiana, Flora was not given the breast pump she needed to remove excess milk after being separated from the toddler she was still breastfeeding, according to the faith leader. Regarding this claim, ICE said the agency could not comment and referred the Guardian to authorities. ICE national detention standardsIt says that all initial health assessments of female detainees “will inquire whether the detainee is currently breastfeeding (breastfeeding).”
“He needs to be released soon,” the church leader said, adding: “There are wonderful people who care for their children. But they are not their mothers.”
Flora is the first client in the history of the Human Trafficking Law Center to be detained by ICE in a trafficking case. But federal data show he is not alone under the second Trump administration.
At the Migration Clinic Georgia State University School of Law produced a federal analysis habeas petitionsIt is estimated that there have been at least 41 habeas corpus challenges to the detention of alleged trafficking victims since January 2025. Trump took office and his administration rescinded a decision policy protected victims of crime and human trafficking from detention and deportation.
Meanwhile, the class action lawsuit titled Women and Children Immigration Center v. Noem, citing outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, states: various organizations They are challenging the Trump administration over new policies issued in early 2025 that led to the routine detention and deportation of “immigrant survivors” of human trafficking and domestic violence, the lawsuit alleges.
In court filings, the defendants argued that the class should not be certified and that the plaintiffs lacked standing.
In Flora’s case, the Human Trafficking Law Center argues that by detaining Flora, the Trump administration violated the “intent and purpose” of a long-standing federal law known as the Federal Reserve Act. Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA).
TVPA, which took effect in 2000 with bipartisan congressional support. defenseless victims human trafficking, including non-citizens – regardless of their immigration statusThe center argues.
When the TVPA comes into force, Congress He himself acknowledged that “victims are often illegal immigrants in need of protection in the destination country.”
Victims can be key witnesses in criminal investigations against their traffickers. Many people say focusing on the victim’s immigration status hinders fighting crime and preventing criminals from harming others.
“They are brave and courageous enough to come forward. We must support them as much as we can,” he added.
Flora “wants to work with law enforcement” to investigate the man who harmed her, Pizano said.
“We want them to investigate. This trafficker is dangerous and violent and needs to be put in jail, not the victim,” he said.
An anonymous DHS spokesperson responded via email regarding Flora’s detention.
The statement included the following statements: “On January 30, 2026, ICE arrested [name withheld by the Guardian] an illegal alien. He will remain in ICE custody and be subject to full legal proceedings. The T and U visa programs were never intended to create a loophole for illegal aliens seeking to remain in the United States. Congress designed these strictly for the most serious cases (actual victims of trafficking and crime) and to support law enforcement in bringing perpetrators to justice. “Having such protections does not preclude enforcement.”
Since then, on March 19, the government responded to the habeas petition, reiterating its position that detaining Flora without bail was lawful.
