PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — What should have been a fun family vacation to Disneyland turned into a nightmare for a Delaware County mother, who was detained by ICE at Los Angeles International Airport.
Thirty-year-old Monica Ryadi said she spent two weeks in a California immigration detention center after ICE took her into custody on Sept. 15.
“They handcuffed me and they put a chain around my waist,” she told NBC10. “I had to walk in line with cuffed ankles in public; people were staring at me. I was made to feel like a criminal.”
Ryadi said she was scared for her family after federal immigration agents separated her from her husband and 3-year-old son.
She said her family had fled religious persecution in Indonesia when she was young, and she believed she was legally protected from deportation.
Her lawyer, Eric Rosenfeld, said Ryadi was granted a withholding from removal order in 2010, protecting her from being deported.
“The United States, through DHS, has indicated that she overstayed her welcome. That’s false,” he said. “You cannot overstay in order of withholding for removal. They said that she is also not welcome in the United States. That’s not a legal argument.”
“This whole time I thought I was safe. I’m lawfully here,” Ryadi added. “I have work authorization. I have a REAL ID. I have Social Security. I bought a house.”
Rosenfeld said he’s working to get her permanent legal status.
Ryadi is scheduled to attend her next ICE check-in in Philadelphia next week.
NBC10 is a broadcast partner of KYW Newsradio.
Monica Ryadi spent two weeks in an immigration detention center
Monica Ryadi spent two weeks in an immigration detention center
