A 27-year-old Ecuadorian woman was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents as she was trying to board a flight from Denver to Oakland on Monday, July 20, according to local news reports.
Bay Area resident Alicia Dantzker told ABC7 that Chantal Morales Rojas had been living in Oakland and was returning from a visit to Denver with her former au pair host family when the incident occurred.
Footage filmed by Dantzker shows Rojas being directed back out of a jet bridge at Denver International Airport and taken out of the airport by agents in civilian clothing.
“Help us! ICE is here! Help us!” Dantzker can be heard yelling in the video.
She told ABC7 that Rojas was approached by a man at the airport and questioned about her immigration status before being approached by additional people in civilian clothes in the jetway and taken into custody.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told American Community Media that Rojas had overstayed her visa in the US.
“She entered the country on October 20, 2024, on a visa that would allow her to stay in the country until January 4, 2025. In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her visa. She remains in ICE custody pending removal proceedings,” they said.
Rojas’s attorney, Laura Lichter, has disputed this, telling American Community Media that Rojas has lived here for more than three years with federal authorization and “has worked legally under employment authorization issued by the US government.”
“Chantal came to the United States lawfully in early 2023 on a J-1 exchange visitor visa as an au pair,” Lichter said. “She followed the rules of her program and, before it ended, timely filed an application with US immigration authorities that allowed her to remain in the country while her case has been pending.” Credit: Alicia Dantzker via Storyful