LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) – A Louisville man is fighting to get his wife released from ICE custody after she was detained during an immigration interview this week.
Armelle Bondonga was detained on Aug. 12 during an interview with her husband, Terrance Bradshaw, who is a U.S. citizen. Bondonga is pursuing a path toward permanent residence.
Her husband told WAVE everything seemed to be going smoothly in the interview until ICE agents brought them into separate rooms and detained Bondonga.
Arianit Osmani, Bondonga’s attorney on her marriage-based proceedings, said she legally arrived in the U.S. on a tourist visa with her family at eight years old from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bondonga has since married her husband, and the two have a 19-month-old son. Bradshaw filed an I-130 petition on Bondonga’s behalf, which functions to establish a family relationship with a foreign national seeking a green card. The petition is still pending.
Bradshaw said he felt they were making real progress in their interview with USCIS officials when things took a turn and became “a living nightmare” for the family.
“I felt completely powerless kissing my wife goodbye, not knowing when I would see her next. Wheeling our son out of that building in his stroller without his mom is a feeling no human should ever have to endure. We left feeling trapped, betrayed, lost, and uncertain of what lies ahead for our family,” Bradshaw said. “I truly hope this brings light to Armelle’s case and reaches a judge who is genuinely fair and just. Armelle deserves to feel welcomed in the country, city, and community she has poured so much of her heart into.”
Bradshaw said he does not understand why she was detained and that she “is not a threat to anyone, and she has hidden nothing from immigration services.”
Osmani said she has a “complicated” prior immigration history, “arising from asylum/removal proceedings involving her family, in which she was included as a family member. Those proceedings are currently being handled by separate immigration counsel.”
Osmani added Bondonga is an active community member, where she has worked with Louisville organizations focused on advocacy, community engagement and empowering young people. She is specifically involved with Future Ancestors and Empower Youth.
“Armelle was not hiding from immigration authorities or attempting to evade the immigration process,” Osmani said. “She appeared for her scheduled interview and was actively participating in the legal process available to her.”
Osmani emphasized the “immediate legal priority is to prevent her removal while the significant pending immigration issues in her case can be addressed.”
They are pursuing a temporary administrative stay of removal. Osmani added they believe Bondonga’s “pending I-130 petition should be adjudicated by USCIS without unnecessary delay so that her marriage-based immigration case can receive meaningful consideration before the government takes the irreversible step of removing her from the United States.”
WAVE reached out to DHS officials for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
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