Overview
- Rubeliz Bolívar, 33, who was stopped Saturday at McAllen airport, was taken into ICE custody while traveling with her 5-year-old to an asylum appointment in California.
- CBP told CNN she remained in the country after a visa overstay in 2017 and has no legal status, and she was moved to the El Valle detention center near McAllen.
- Her husband says she holds a valid work permit through 2030 with pending asylum and a residence petition through him, and he says agents dismissed her documents as invalid.
- The child was held for hours and then released to relatives, and the father said he reunited with his daughter on Monday.
- Medical groups and local leaders condemned the arrest, and the case follows last week’s detention of another Venezuelan physician in South Texas, raising fears of clinician shortages in an area that depends on foreign-trained doctors.