Cliona Ward, a 54-year-old Irish-born woman and longtime U.S. resident, has been released from immigration detention in the U.S. after being held for 17 days due to decades-old convictions that had been expunged at the state level but not federally recognized.
Her release followed a decision from a California judge to formally vacate those convictions at a level that federal authorities would accept, clearing the way for her to return home.
Ward, who moved to the U.S. at age 12 and holds a green card, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco Airport on April 21. She had just returned from Ireland after visiting her father, who has dementia.
According to her lawyer, Ward had previously traveled abroad without issue and was unaware that the expungement of her 2007–2008 misdemeanor drug convictions had not protected her from immigration consequences, as The Guardian notes.
Earlier this year Ward had been stopped at Seattle Airport and held for three days, after which she was released to gather documentation. Despite presenting these records to officials in San Francisco she was detained again.
Ward's sister, Orla Holladay, said the woman is now recovering but remains deeply affected, as Irish Independent report:
"She is in shock; filled with emotions, traumatized, full of gratitude, fear for the women she left behind"
Ward's attorney, Mike Mayer, emphasized that the detainment occurred even though Ward posed no security threat. He described the case as unusual, noting that prior to changes in immigration enforcement policies, such a situation might have led to removal proceedings but not detention, adding that the current approach reflects a "zero tolerance" stance by authorities.
Ward, who works for a nonprofit and cares for her chronically ill U.S. citizen son, is one of several foreign nationals recently detained under heightened scrutiny. Recent high-profile cases include a Canadian, Jasmine Mooney, who was detained for two weeks, sometimes in freezing cells, because of an issue with her work visa.
Another one, British graphic artist Rebecca Burke, was interrogated and detained for three weeks because of a Visa mix up, an ordeal that prompted her to caution other tourists to avoid travelling to the US.
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