A Texas woman who was declared innocent on Monday, after spending more than 22 years behind bars for a wrongful conviction in a child\u2019s death, will be allowed to stay in the country, according to a press officer for the Homeland Security Department. She had faced a deportation threat because her immigration status lapsed while she was incarcerated, a judge and her lawyers said.<\/p>\n
The woman, Carmen Mejia, 54, was convicted of murder and injury to a child in 2005 in connection with the death of a 10-month-old, who suffered third-degree burns from scalding bath water, while in Ms. Mejia\u2019s care at her home in Austin in July 2003. The baby later died from the injuries. Ms. Mejia was sentenced to life in prison with parole but she had maintained her innocence.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Judge P. David Wahlberg of Travis County dismissed the charges, formally declaring her innocent. In January, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state\u2019s highest criminal court, overturned Ms. Mejia\u2019s previous conviction, citing new evidence that proved she was \u201cactually innocent.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n But Ms. Mejia was not released from custody, owing to an immigration hold from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, after her legal status expired while she was imprisoned, according to the Innocence Project, an advocacy organization that seeks to overturn wrongful convictions and which represented Ms. Mejia in her appeals case. She came to the United States from Honduras in 1995 and had lawful permission to live and work in the country before her conviction, the organization said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn light of her conviction being overturned, she will be released from local custody, and ICE will lift the detainer,\u201d the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. \u201cDue to her exoneration, she is legally allowed to remain in the U.S. until her Temporary Protected status expires.\u201d<\/p>\n She was being held in the Travis County Correctional Complex, according to jail records.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has been arresting and detaining immigrants it seeks to deport in cities from Los Angeles to Minneapolis. In recent weeks,<\/a> those operations had become more targeted after opposition to its aggressive tactics.<\/p>\n Vanessa Potkin, one of the Innocence Project lawyers working on Ms. Mejia\u2019s case, said on Tuesday, before the announcement from federal officials, that Ms. Mejia\u2019s release would give her an opportunity to be reunited with her four children, of whom she has lost custody.<\/p>\n \u201cShe lost her lawful status as a direct consequence of her wrongful imprisonment and she had no ability to renew her status and to maintain it,\u201d Ms. Potkin said, adding that a deportation would \u201cperpetuate the profound injustice\u201d Ms. Mejia faced.<\/p>\n In signing the order to dismiss the charges, Judge Wahlberg said on Monday that he wished the decision would be \u201cthe end of this tragedy\u201d for Ms. Mejia.<\/p>\n Judge Wahlberg urged federal authorities evaluating the case to consider Ms. Mejia\u2019s lawful status and lack of criminal history, along with her years under incarceration, during which she remained in good standing. He added that Ms. Mejia did not have the financial resources or documentation to flee the country and was not a \u201cflight risk.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that all of those factors are taken into account when some federal authority looks at this, because a removal at this point would be compounding the tragedy that\u2019s already occurred,\u201d Judge Wahlberg said.<\/p>\n According to the Innocence Project, Ms. Mejia was granted Temporary Protected Status and legal authorization to work in the United States after fleeing abuse and poverty in her native Honduras.<\/p>\n On July 28, 2003, Ms. Mejia was home with her four children and babysitting a 10-month-old child, the organization said. While she was breastfeeding her youngest daughter, one of her children tried to bathe the baby, but the water heater in Ms. Mejia\u2019s rental apartment lacked safety features, and the water quickly reached a scalding temperature. The baby received third-degree burns and later died from the injuries, the organization said.<\/p>\n Testimony from a doctor and a law enforcement expert, who said they believed the child was held under water and that the burns were intentional, helped secure a conviction, Ms. Potkin said at a news conference on Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n