FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 4, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 11
Queens Village mom remains in ICE limbo
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e deportation of a pregnant mother
of two from Queens Village remains
on hold.
Alma Centeno-Santiago, 34, continues
to be detained in Louisiana by ICE aft er
her hearing in the Southern District Court
in New York was postponed Tuesday.
“Th e judge issued a continuance of
the Temporary Restraining Order preventing
ICE from deporting her until
the next hearing on July 23,” New York
Legal Assistance Group Alma Director
of Immigrant Protection Jodi Ziesemer,
Esq. said. “Alma remains detained in
Louisiana, away from her NYLAG legal
team and her family. Th is includes her two
U.S. citizen children, ages 3 and 11, who
miss her terribly. We have asked for Alma
to be transferred back to the East Coast so
she can be near her family, but the government
has said it is ICE’s decision, yet ICE
refuses to answer our calls.”
Centeno-Santiago’s legal team fi led
an emergency request in the Southern
District Court of New York to prevent
her deportation and the court granted a
temporary restraining order halting her
removal from the United States.
“Yesterday, Representative Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez and other elected offi cials
visited CBP facilities and noted the horrid
conditions that immigrants are kept
in. Alma’s case highlight similar abuses,”
Ziesemer said. “She is experiencing a
medically diffi cult pregnancy in ICE custody.
She advocated for herself and her
unborn child because ICE was denying
her proper medical care. However, instead
of providing her proper medical care,
ICE isolated Alma, continued to deny
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her basic care, and was indiff erent to her
suff ering. Ocasio-Cortez also reported
that the women and children that alleged
these horrid conditions also fear retaliation
from ICE. We believe this gives more
credence to Alma’s claim that ICE moved
to deport her to keep her from discussing
the detention conditions.”
Th e ruling will give Centeno-Santiago
an opportunity to fully assert her claims
when the court conducts further proceeding
next week.
Centeno-Santiago’s legal odyssey began
in April when she was arrested by ICE
agents while appearing at a Queens
Family Court hearing in Jamaica over
the custody of her children with the children’s
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father. Centeno-Santiago held at the
Bergen County Detention Facility in New
Jersey for nearly three months.
An immigration judge ordered
Centeno-Santiago to be deported last
December aft er she failed to appear for
immigration court proceedings. Ziesemer
argued that her client was not properly
notifi ed of her scheduled court appearances.
Centeno-Santiago fl ed Guatemala at the
age of 18, and had a full-time job at a
restaurant in Jamaica until ICE agents
arrested her.
“Support is increasing and clamoring
for ICE to release Alma, including
a #FreeAlma hashtag on social media,”
Ziesemer said. “NYLAG and Alma’s
family are also extremely grateful to
Congressman Gregory Meeks, newly
elected Queens DA Tiff any Cabán, and
Senator Gillibrand for their support in
this case.”
Cabán, it should be noted, is not the
newly elected Queens DA, but she is the
apparent winner of the Democratic primary
held June 25.
Courtesy of NYLAG
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