Victory! Judge Orders Omaha Mother’s Release from ICE Custody

LINCOLN, Neb. — An Omaha woman is back with her family after months in the custody of immigration authorities. Today, a judge ruled that Sabina Carmona-Lorenzo was being held unlawfully and must be released on bond.

Carmona-Lorenzo had been in the United States for more than 20 years when she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in an Omaha June worksite raid. She and her husband have five children, all of whom are U.S. citizens. Three of them are minors, one is in college, and the other is serving in the military.

After an immigration court judge granted Carmona-Lorenzo release on bond in July, ICE filed an automatic stay that unilaterally blocked her release. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed a federal civil rights lawsuit arguing that ICE's use of the automatic stay unlawfully violated the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment and extended beyond ICE’s authority.

At today's hearing, a federal judge ruled from the bench, siding with the ACLU of Nebraska’s arguments and granting Carmona-Lorenzo release on bond. She is the third ACLU of Nebraska client to leave ICE custody in the last two months.

Grant Friedman, staff attorney at the ACLU of Nebraska, said:

“Most importantly, we are thrilled to see another reunited family. This decision will help ensure a basic level of due process as our client works through immigration proceedings in her community with the support of her family. This is also one more point of evidence that the government is crossing a line by preventing people from posting bond that immigration court judges have set. It is clearly unlawful, and it needs to end.”

Carmona-Lorenzo's lawsuit links ICE's new use of automatic stays to “interim guidance” from the agency that asserts nearly all detained immigrants in removal proceedings are ineligible for release on bond. The no-bond practice is being challenged in a separate national class action lawsuit brought by the ACLU’s national office and other immigrants’ rights advocates.