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Irish woman detained by US immigration released after 17 days in custody
Cliona Ward, who has lived legally in US for decades, was returning from trip to Ireland when held over criminal record from 20 years ago
Cliona Ward, 54, who has lived legally in the US for decades, emerged on Wednesday from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) facility at Tacomain Washington.
After visiting her sick father in Ireland she had been detained at San Francisco airport on 21 April, causing an outcry in Ireland and the US and a campaign for her release.
Last week a California judge agreed to an application for the original convictions to be formally overturned in a manner that would be recognised at a federal level, paving the way for her release, according to Ward’s lawyers.
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Ward is originally from Dublin and moved as a child to the US where she obtained a green card, attended the University of California, in Santa Cruz, now works for a non-profit, pays taxes and cares for a chronically ill son who is a US citizen, according to Holladay.
A criminal record for drug possession and misdemeanours from 2007 and 2008 was expunged at state level but not federal, which put her in the crosshairs of Donald Trump’s crackdown on documented as well as undocumented immigrants.
Earlier this year Ward accompanied her stepmother to Ireland to visit her father, who has dementia, and upon returning to the US was stopped at Seattle airport on 19 March and held for three days.
She was released to obtain documentation about the partially expunged convictions and presented them to Ice officials at San Francisco airport on 21 April, after which she was again detained, said Holladay.