00:00Lina and Fred, this is a case that has surprised both Ileana Leek's family and her immigration attorney.
00:04They tell me Ileana had a valid work permit and she had already traveled from PHL to another World Cup
00:10game without any issues.
00:11But on the morning of July 11th, as she was headed to the Argentina versus Switzerland match, everything changed.
00:19A World Cup dream turned into an immigration nightmare for a nanny in South Philly.
00:23Ileana Leek came from Argentina in 2023 on a tourist visa that was later extended and was waiting for her
00:29asylum interview with USCIS when she was arrested on July 11th.
00:34That morning, her boyfriend Steven says he drove her to the airport and after returning home, he received a phone
00:39call that changed everything.
00:40I pick it up and it's Ileana crying on the phone saying like, you know, ICE arrested me.
00:46It just hit me like a ton of bricks. I was devastated in that moment because I knew like that
00:50everything has changed at this point.
00:52From there, Ileana was transferred through several detention centers in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Texas, and she's now in New Mexico waiting
00:59for her court hearing, which has already been postponed several times.
01:02Meanwhile, the uncertainty has spread to Argentina where her father waits anxiously for news.
01:09He says the feeling of uncertainty has been awful. Her immigration attorney calls this unexpected.
01:14It is very shocking. I've been doing this for 11 years and we've never encountered anything like this before.
01:20Her attorney explains that before people with similar situations to Ileana's were able to travel domestically without any issues, but
01:27now they've been seeing more arrests.
01:29She was never even here one day unlawfully. She was doing everything that she could possibly be doing to try
01:35to remain here in the United States lawfully.
01:41Her father says she is a good person who has never had any problems with the law in Argentina nor
01:46here.
01:46So he hopes that character and good behavior will help resolve the case in the best possible way so she
01:52can continue pursuing her dreams.
01:54Now we have reached out to ICE but have not received a response yet.
01:58Her family has created a GoFundMe and a Facebook page support for Ileana to keep the community updated on her
02:03case as they wait for her next court date this upcoming Friday.
02:07Back to you guys.
Comentarios