A Michigan collegiate soccer player detained last month by federal officials is set to leave the state’s largest immigration detention facility as she continues to fight to stay in the U.S.
U.S. Immigration Judge James Graulich granted a bond request by a lawyer representing Karliana Perdomo during a hearing Thursday, June 25.
Graulich ordered a $5,000 bond, citing Perdomo’s history of playing soccer at Cleary University, graduating high school in the state, no criminal record and ties to family who live in Michigan.
“I don’t really understand why she was picked up … she was not breaking any laws and she’s being doing her best to make the most of her time here in the United States,” said her lawyer Kevin Piecuch, executive director of the Southwest Detroit Immigration and Refugee Center, during the brief hearing.
A lawyer representing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said they opposed granting bond, but provided few details.
Perdomo’s case occurred amid a slew of bond hearings, performed online June 25; Graulich is based in Richmond, Virginia while Perdomo appeared from a room at North Lake Processing Center, an immigration detention facility in Baldwin, Michigan.
Perdomo, 20, wore a large beige coat, crossed her arms and sat quietly throughout the proceeding. She smiled briefly when the judge mentioned her name and said thank you after he told her she was granted bond.
Perdomo’s mom, Liliana Gotopo, told the Free Press earlier this week they were hopeful bond would be granted but “we are holding tight to God’s hands,” according to a translation of a text message sent in Spanish.
“We are truly, enormously grateful for all the help and for always looking out for us — really,” Gotopo said in a text message, also translated, received after Thursday’s hearing.
Perdomo’s case garnered substantial attention throughout metro Detroit.
In late May, federal immigration officials detained Perdomo; images shared online from the time appear to show they took her following a traffic stop. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not responded to requests for comment about her case.
Gotopo previously told the Free Press her daughter fled their native country of Venezuela when she was 15; she said Perdomo was attacked by gangs as part of political violence rampant in the country.
Perdomo had Temporary Protected Status, a type of authorization to remain in the U.S. the federal government can provide to immigrants when it is dangerous to return to their home countries. The Trump administration revoked this status for Venezuelans last year, but in some cases the authorization remains in effect through this fall.
Perdomo is a member of the Cleary University women’s soccer team, a private university based in Howell. She joined the team after graduating high school in Detroit and earning an associate’s degree from St. Clair Community College.
Her Cleary teammates recently established a GoFundMe account to help raise money for her bond. As of Thursday, they’d raised nearly $16,000. The bond system in immigration court is different than criminal court; people accused have to provide the entire amount of the bond.
Graulich noted Perdomo’s filing for bond was 214 pages long. Piecuch noted many people wanted to write letters in support of her release.
“We included a lot of community ties. Lots of people wanted to write letters on behalf of this person. She’s very well loved in the community, ” he said.
He also noted she has a pending asylum claim, previously received authorization to work in the country and has paid her taxes.
“She wants to get her college degree. She has no place to go, other than she wants to stay here and finish her college education,” Piecuch said.
For decades, the administration and advocates agreed that people who presented themselves at the border could be denied bond and detained while their immigration cases proceeded. But, if someone was already in the country when found, they were typically granted bond in their immigration cases.
That changed in 2025, when the Trump administration argued the law lets them deny immigrants a bond hearing in essentially every proceeding in immigration court.
This spring, a federal appeals court disagreed. They ruled immigration officials operating in Michigan must at least hold bond hearings for many people detained.
Gotopo said she expects immigration officials will let her know when Perdomo is ready to be released. She hopes she could be picked up as soon as Thursday.
There’s still a long road ahead for Perdomo and her family: she still needs to plead her case to remain in the country.
In fact, the reality of the Trump administration’s promise to conduct the nation’s largest deportation campaign struck home again for Gotopo before Perdomo’s hearing.
About an hour before they would learn whether Perdomo would receive bond, Gotopo told the Free Press she heard ICE tried to detain another family member. The relative was driving home from work when SUVs tried to box him in, Gotopo said. He parked and entered his home.
As of publication, she said the vehicles remained outside his house. She wasn’t sure what would happen.
“We were scared here, and now we’re happy,” Gotopo said in a text, referring to the ICE activity quickly followed by her daughter receiving bond.
Reach Dave Boucher at dboucher@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan college soccer player gets bond, set for release from ICE detention
Reporting by Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
