The Ecuadorian woman whose arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Denver International Airport last week went viral was released from federal custody Thursday afternoon, according to her lawyer.
Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas was released on a $3,000 bond and will return home to Oakland with her family and friends while her immigration proceedings and federal habeas corpus petition continue through the courts, attorney Laura Lichter said.
“We’re obviously relieved that Chantal is finally going home today,” Lichter said in a statement. “But her release doesn’t answer the central question in this case. ICE still has not produced the records explaining why they arrested her or why they believed detention was justified. We will continue this fight because the public deserves to know whether the government followed the law before taking away someone’s liberty.”
ICE agents arrested Morales Rojas last week while she was attempting to board a Southwest Airlines flight back to Oakland after traveling with loved ones to Denver.
Video of the arrest filmed by Morales Rojas’ friend Alicia Dantzker showed the 27-year-old Ecuadorian woman whisked off the jetway and taken to the tarmac while passengers shouted for help. Days later, the New York Times cited Morales Rojas’ detention in a report on the Trump administration’s surge in immigration arrests at U.S. airports.
Read the full story from our media partners at the Denver Post here.
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