"Where would I go? Where would I start? What's it like?"
Longtime Hartford resident Wayzaro "Taz" Walton had those thoughts as she spent most of this year in ICE custody, facing deportation to England, the home country she left as a small child.
Now, Walton, released from a New Hampshire prison just before Thanksgiving, is home for good.
Today, the Board of Immigration dropped the deportation order against Walton, ending a seven-year legal drama with more spins than the childhood routine that earned her the nickname "Taz," after the whirling, ground-drilling Warner Bros. cartoon character.
"It's been a long fight," said Walton, "I'm still in disbelief. First getting out just before Thanksgiving, that was a blessing, and then a week-and-a-half or two weeks later, for this, I'm beyond ecstatic."
Walton and her wife, Tamika Ferguson, who have a teenage daughter, celebrated with champagne in the office of Hartford immigration attorney Erin O'Neil-Baker.
"Ms. Walton has suffered through sleepless nights, restricted travel, weekly check-ins with ICE, numerous deadlines facing deportation, lawsuits, petitions, rallies, protests... and jail," said O'Neil Baker, "Now, finally, Ms. Walton can find some comfort and security knowing that she's home, and she can stay here with her wife and daughter and that will not be taken away from her."
