A Delaware County nurse is fighting potential deportation after being detained by ICE while on a trip to Disneyland.<\/p>\n
She completed her first check-in at the ICE office in Philadelphia on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Arriving with a GPS ankle monitor on her leg while surrounded by supporters, Monica Ryadi was filled with feelings of frustration and gratitude outside the ICE office in Philadelphia’s Chinatown section.<\/p>\n
“I’m overwhelmed with support,” Ryadi said. “I can’t believe all these people are here to see me. I’m just a regular person.”<\/p>\n
Ryadi said she’s a registered nurse for Main Line Health and is now in the middle of a battle to stay in the country.<\/p>\n
“They haven’t given Monica any paperwork. They haven’t given me any paperwork,” said attorney Eric Rosenfeld. “They held her in jail for 15 days and said we’re now able to send you to a third country.”<\/p>\n
Rosenfeld shared a photo telling us ICE initially arrested Ryadi on Sept. 15th at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX).<\/p>\n
She was on the way to Disneyland with her husband and three-year-old son, who she said are both U.S. citizens.<\/p>\n
They said they traveled to Disney World in Florida just last year without any issues.<\/p>\n
“Monica believed that she was sort of scouted and followed at the Philadelphia International Airport beforehand,” Rosenfeld said.<\/p>\n
The Department of Homeland Security tells us agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation at LAX when they arrested her.<\/p>\n
“As soon as we got off the airplane, we were approached by about 5-7 men, and they demanded our identification. Even after showing my Real ID, they asked for my passport, claiming that I needed one to travel,” Ryadi said.<\/p>\n
“I didn’t think about myself, and I just thought about my son and the fact that he had to witness the whole thing,” Ryadi said.<\/p>\n
Federal officials said Ryadi entered the country legally in 2005 with permission to stay for six months.<\/p>\n
She said her family arrived after fleeing religious persecution in Indonesia when she was 9.<\/p>\n
In a statement to Action News, the Department of Homeland Security referred to Ryadi as an “illegal alien” and said, “In violation of our nation’s laws, she overstayed her welcome. She received due process and was issued a final order of removal by an immigration judge in 2010.”<\/p>\n
“In 2010 they lost their asylum case, had an order of removal, but at the same time it was paused immediately,” Rosenfeld said.<\/p>\n
Rosenfeld said an immigration judge granted what’s called an order of withholding of removal and said it protects her from being deported.<\/p>\n
Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon is joining the outcry.<\/p>\n
“Monica’s case is particularly unforgivable,” said Scanlon.<\/p>\n
“She’s someone who has been here legally,” Scanlon said. “She’s been here for a decade. She has committed no crimes, she’s paid her taxes, she’s served her community as a nurse.”<\/p>\n
“This is my home. I built a life here. I wouldn’t know what to do if they were to send me to another country,” Ryadi said.<\/p>\n
Rosenfeld said there’s still a chance Ryadi could be deported, but they plan to fight it in court.<\/p>\n
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