| Friend,
Thanks to all of the pressure and community support, Roxana was finally released on Monday, February 4th. Although Roxana is back home with her children, her fight is far from over.
As you may already know, Roxana came to the U.S. more than 13 years ago, fleeing violence in El Salvador and extreme violence in her home. In 2008, Roxana was racially profiled by two deputies from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office in Maryland while sitting on a bench eating lunch. The two officers unlawfully detained and transferred her to ICE. In 2013, Roxana won an important victory from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, finding that the Sheriff’s deputies had violated her constitutional rights to be free from unlawful seizure. The case is now in the damages phase in the federal district court for Maryland.
Despite the fact that Roxana won her case, owns her own home, and has deep ties to the United States, Roxana has been forced to attend regular check-ins with ICE for the past decade stemming from this initial arrest.
On Tuesday, January 8th, 2019, Roxana’s worst fear was realized after she was detained during a routine check-in despite the fact she had a court hearing the following Monday regarding her civil rights case. |
