The United States of America’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has deported a Kenyan nurse Maureen Wanjiru Ngure.
Maureen was deported by ICE on September 22, about a month after she was arrested by ICE agents in San Francisco. According to a report that appeared on Newsweek, Maureen was arrested while attending an appointment at the ICE agency in San Francisco, California.
“[Maureen Wanjiru Ngure] chose to illegally overstay her welcome in violation of our nation’s laws… Claims that [she] was unjustly detained are false,” the Newsweek quoted a spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security.
Maureen had entered the United States through New York in November 2006 using a student’s visa. After her arrested, the married mother of two was allegedly detained at a federal immigration centre in Louisiana.
A website that had been launched to raise funds on her behalf claimed that she had been offered a nursing job in British Columbia, Canada and was planning to move for work when she arrested.
There was also a claim that after her arrest, she was detained in various federal detention centres in California, Arizona, Louisiana, and New Jersey.
According to officials from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Maureen had been issued with a removal order by an immigration judge in February 2012. In March 2012, she was arrested in Seattle before she was later released about six months later in September 2012 pending immigration proceedings.
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According to Maureen’s attorney Regine Dupuy, her husband and their two children flew to Kenya to join her shortly after the deportation.
“To be clear: a pending application does NOT confer legal status in the United States. Being in detention is a choice. We encourage all illegal aliens to take control of their departure with the CBP Home App. The United States is offering illegal aliens $3,000 and a free flight to self-deport now,” the DHS was quoted by Newsweek.
“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
