British Mother's Ordeal at Routine Immigration Meeting
A British mother who was dramatically detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while holding her six-month-old baby during a green card appointment has been released after six days in custody.
Katie Paul, 33, from Surrey, England, was apprehended on November 19 at a US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Diego where she had attended what should have been a routine meeting to finalise her permanent residency paperwork.
The Shocking Arrest
Paul was with her husband Stephen, also 33, and their infant son Alan when three ICE agents handcuffed her just seconds after she handed the baby to her husband. The couple had expected the meeting would result in her green card being approved either immediately or within days.
"We see the ICE agents come around, and they say that they're arresting Katie," Stephen told NBC. "She was just stunned. She kept asking what was wrong, what did we do? We'd done everything right."
ICE claimed Paul had overstayed her visa after moving to the US to be with Stephen in September 2024. The couple married a month after her arrival.
Medical Complications and Immigration Process
Paul had planned to return to the UK while her permanent residency application was being processed but was advised against travelling because her pregnancy was deemed high-risk. She remained in the US with medical approval while the couple navigated the green card process.
According to the family, immigration officials had previously assured them that her visa status wouldn't pose a problem during the application. Federal laws passed in 1986 allow spouses of US citizens who entered the country legally to be eligible for permanent residency even if their visa expires.
However, this protection doesn't prevent ICE from detaining applicants and initiating deportation procedures in the interim - a tactic the agency has quietly begun employing in recent months.
Family Separation and Legal Battle
During her week-long detention, baby Alan was separated from his mother. "I had to take my baby, our baby, from his crying mother's arms," Stephen said. "My baby doesn't have his mom to hold him. I can't work right now because I need to take care of him."
The family struggled to locate Paul after her detention, with Stephen noting it took nearly three hours "to fight just to find out where to go, to ask to see her."
When Stephen eventually reached his wife by phone, she told him: "She said that she was scared. She was anxious, missed her baby. She just wants to come home."
Paul's mother, Jules Peters, 55, said her daughter appeared exhausted and overwhelmed during FaceTime calls from the detention centre.
Release and Resolution
Paul was released and granted her green card after her husband filed a lawsuit in federal court in San Diego. The complaint demanded her release and sought to block her deportation.
In a surprising twist, even ICE personnel at the holding facility questioned the operation. Paul recounted that agents told her she was 'not the sort of person we're supposed to be arresting'.
An ICE statement defended the agency's actions: 'Individuals unlawfully present in the US, including those out of status at federal sites such as USCIS offices, may face arrest, detention, and removal in accordance with US immigration law.'
Paul's case highlights a concerning new trend of immigrants being detained during what should be routine immigration meetings, creating fear within immigrant communities who are following proper legal channels.
