Federal immigration officials were poised to deport a Wayne County farmworker within days of her arrest last month.
Dolores Bustamante Romero was detained by ICE during a scheduled check-in April 22. Within 24 hours, Bustamante was driven from the Buffalo ICE Field Office to a county jail cell in Ohio, and then flown to a major hub for detainees in Louisiana, more than 1,200 miles away.
“After her detention, her removal was happening the next day, essentially,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Khalil said during an evidentiary hearing in federal court May 26.
That never happened. Immigration attorneys quickly filed a habeas corpus petition on Bustamante’s behalf, arguing she was unlawfully detained. U.S. District Judge Meredith Vacca temporarily blocked the deportation, ordering the woman be brought back to Western New York until her case could be heard.
Now, after a three-hour hearing May 26, Bustamante’s fate will soon be decided: The question is not whether or not Bustamante can eventually be deported, but rather if she has the right to advance notice and the chance to prepare her affairs and say goodbye.
Vacca said she will issue a decision on whether to release the 54-year-old grandmother from federal custody as early as May 27.
Who is Dolores Bustamante Romero?
Bustamante is an apple picker and a prominent labor rights advocate who has lived in the United States since 2003, when she fled an abusive husband in Mexico with her young daughter.
Her case hangs on the question of due process.
After an unsuccessful asylum claim and several appeals, a federal judge issued a final deportation order for Bustamante in 2023. ICE, however, did not arrest her before the 90-day removal period expired, and she was allowed to live and work under supervised release.
Rhiya Trivedi, one of three attorneys representing Bustamante, argued the federal government was required to provide notice and a hearing before re-detaining the woman for removal proceedings. She suggested ICE rushed to deport Bustamante in retaliation for media interviews she gave shortly before her arrest.
In court May 26, Bustamante appeared in a blue-gray jumpsuit with her hair tied back in twin braids. Weeping softly at times, she testified that during what she assumed to be a routine check-in appointment in Buffalo, an ICE agent called her “famous” and asked who had gathered press outside the building. The day before, Bustamante told reporters she would appear for the check-in despite stories of widespread arrests because she wanted to “do things the right way” and would not live in fear as a fugitive.
After three hours in the Buffalo office, Bustamante was shackled and taken into custody ― though she said she was not told why or where she would be held.
Later, on the way to Louisiana, she learned her name did not appear on a list of people to transport. Trivedi called the incomplete flight manifest evidence that Bustamante’s detention was hurried and haphazard. She repeatedly pressed the question of who ordered Bustamante’s arrest that day; Khalil could not answer.
“My client had the right to say goodbye,” Trivedi said, noting that a removal would constitute “permanent exile” from children and grandchildren still living in the United States. “She was not given that right.”
Khalil said Bustamante’s detention was standard under a renewed push for deportations under the Trump administration. He said Bustamante was already given notice through the final order of removal in 2023. Any additional notice could create a flight risk, he argued.
“The government’s position is that they can do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whoever they want,” Trivedi responded. “The Constitution does not allow that.”
Tearful exchange inside federal court
Following the hearing, court officials granted Bustamante several minutes to speak with loved ones who had packed the courtroom in support. She sat with a wide smile behind a wooden railing that separates the working part of the court from the public gallery. Two officers from the Batavia detention center stood above her.
Bustamante blew kisses and waved into a teary crowd, her arms outstretched, but was not permitted to hug her friends or children. She shared a message with a friend and advocate, Carly Fox, to bring to more supporters waiting outside.
“What will happen will happen,” Bustamante said, as dictated and translated by Fox. “But despite that, I have not felt alone, even though I spend my days in between four walls.”
— Kayla Canne covers community safety for the Democrat and Chronicle with a focus on immigration, police accountability, government surveillance and how people are impacted by violence. Follow her on Instagram @bykaylacanne. Get in touch at kcanne@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Deportation halted after ICE arrest moves woman out of state
Reporting by Kayla Canne, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
