What was supposed to be a family vacation to Disneyland turned into two weeks in immigration detention for a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, nurse who was separated from her husband and 3-year-old son.<\/p>\n
Now back home in the Philadelphia area, 30-year-old Monica Ryadi is fighting to remain in the country she has lived in since childhood.<\/p>\n
Ryadi was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15, 2026, as her family was beginning a trip to Disneyland.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t think about myself. I just thought about my son, you know, the fact that he had to witness the whole thing,” Ryadi said. “And when’s the next time I’m going to see him?”<\/p>\n
Ryadi said her young son watched as federal agents took her into custody.<\/p>\n
“He experienced the whole thing. Me being cuffed and had to walk away with these groups of men God knows where,” she said.<\/p>\n
Ryadi spent two weeks in immigration detention in California before being released Sept. 29 and reunited with her family.<\/p>\n
Dispute over immigration status<\/p>\n
Ryadi came to the United States from Indonesia when she was 9 years old after her family fled religious persecution.<\/p>\n
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ryadi legally entered the U.S. in December 2005, but her authorization to remain expired on June 29, 2006.<\/p>\n
DHS says an immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2010.<\/p>\n
However, Ryadi’s attorney, Eric Rosenfeld, disputes the government’s characterization of her immigration status.<\/p>\n
Rosenfeld says Ryadi was granted withholding of removal in 2010, a form of legal protection that prevents the government from deporting someone to a country where they are likely to face persecution.<\/p>\n
“Monica has been lawfully present since 2010, and she has not overstayed an order of withholding because you can’t,” Rosenfeld said.<\/p>\n
A withholding of removal order does not provide permanent residency or automatically eliminate a final removal order, but it generally prohibits deportation to the country covered by that protection.<\/p>\n
Nurse hopes to have ankle monitor removed<\/p>\n
Ryadi was released from immigration detention last month under an order of supervision requiring GPS monitoring.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, CBS News Philadelphia accompanied Ryadi to an immigration check-in in Center City Philadelphia.<\/p>\n
Her attorney is pushing to have her ankle monitor removed, arguing that it creates an additional burden for Ryadi, who works as a nurse and spends long hours on her feet caring for patients.<\/p>\n
For Ryadi, the uncertainty extends far beyond the monitoring device.<\/p>\n
She has built a home and career in the Philadelphia area, where she lives with her husband and young son.<\/p>\n
Despite being reunited with her family, she fears another separation and the possibility of being forced to leave the country she has called home for most of her life.<\/p>\n
“This is my home. I built a life here,” Ryadi said. “I wouldn’t know what to do if they sent me to another country.”<\/p>\n