Cleveland, Ohio The Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies are being sued by a woman who was arrested outside the Cleveland Immigration Court for her prolonged incarceration.
Since her arrest on May 27, 27-year-old Leanny Hernandez Torrealba has been detained at the Geauga County Jail.
Homeland Security’s new tactic of issuing emergency deportation orders to expedite deportations and remove cases from immigration judges is being challenged in the lawsuit, which was filed last week in federal court in Cleveland.
It requests that a federal judge order her release so that she can continue her case in immigration court and accuses government officials of violating her due process rights.
Mariya Howykowycz, Hernandez Torrealba’s lawyer, stated in the lawsuit that her client cannot be deported in an emergency, or expedited removal, since she has been in the country for more than two years and has an ongoing immigration court case that will decide whether or not she is deported.
Hernandez Torrealba was a police officer who left her home country of Venezuela due to persistent harassment regarding her political beliefs and sexual orientation. According to the lawsuit, she has no criminal history.
On August 19, 2022, she arrived in the United States close to Eagle Pass, Texas. Before being released, she was detained for two days after her arrest.
About a year later, Hernandez Torrealba filed an asylum application in Cleveland Immigration Court. After being released, she settled in Columbus.
According to the petition, Homeland Security lawyers requested that Immigration Judge Richard Drucker dismiss the case during her initial hearing on May 27 and stated that they were pursuing emergency deportation. Hernandez Torrealba did not have a lawyer at the time.
According to the lawsuit, ICE officers detained her outside the courthouse after Drucker approved the request.
On June 25, Hernandez Torrealba filed an appeal against Drucker’s ruling. According to the lawsuit, she is still being held at the Geauga County Jail after an asylum officer rejected her appeal.
The action is comparable to one that was brought on behalf of Mario Monroy Villalta, a Cleveland resident. In that instance, Homeland Security lawyers consented to abandon the litigation in exchange for the immediate deportation order against Monroy Villalta.
A second lawsuit resulted from DHS lawyers successfully arguing that the judge lacked the power to provide bond in his case after dropping the emergency deportation order in exchange for dismissing the complaint.
