A 22-year-old nursing graduate from Louisiana has been held in an immigration detention centre for the past six months, following her arrest by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in June. Vilma Palacios, who recently completed her studies at the Louisiana State University Health New Orleans School of Nursing, had just accepted a position at Touro infirmary when she was taken into custody.
Palacios was arrested on 26 June while attempting to obtain a routine vehicle inspection sticker. She told local outlet Nola.com that an unmarked vehicle pulled up behind her and agents approached, informing her that she was under arrest. She said she was unaware that her immigration case had been returned to the active docket.
Denied release on bond, Palacios now faces the possibility of voluntarily returning to Honduras, the country she left with her parents at age six. “The only thing now that I want is my freedom back,” she said. “I don’t want to be enclosed in a space where everything is controlled. I have no power to do anything. I feel hopeless all the time.”
During her months at the ICE processing centre in Basile, Louisiana, Palacios reported emotional exhaustion and difficulties obtaining basic hygiene items, including shampoo and menstrual products. She said that on some occasions, menstrual pads took up to a week to be provided after she requested them from officers.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed her arrest, stating that Palacios had admitted to being in the US illegally and that she would receive full due process. A DHS spokesperson disputed claims about conditions at the facility, asserting that “this is the best healthcare that many aliens have received in their entire lives.” Family and immigration advocates have held protests calling for Palacios’s release, highlighting her community involvement and commitment to nursing amid national workforce shortages.
