Overview
- ICE detained 22-year-old Felicitas Lauría on November 25 during a spousal residency interview in San Diego, citing an overstay after her visa expired on March 12 despite a pending adjustment application and a work permit approved in September.
- Family accounts say she spent 10 days in custody, was kept in restraints, denied thyroid medication, and moved between a downtown jail and the Otay Mesa detention center under harsh conditions.
- A federal judge granted release on a $1,500 bond after ICE failed to transport her to a December 5 court appearance, and an ankle monitor applied on release was removed on December 11.
- USCIS confirmed in August that a pending family petition does not confer lawful status or block removal, a shift advocates link to a reported rise in arrests of foreign spouses in San Diego since November 12.
- Lauría remains under immigration supervision and has a deportation hearing scheduled for March 11, 2026, with her lawyer seeking an earlier date.