Masked immigration agents arrested a Tucson asylum seeker last month, only for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to release her when faced with a legal challenge, the Arizona Daily Star reported Sunday. Here are five takeaways from the story:
- Tucson asylum seeker Isa Maluenga Avila, 41, fled Venezuela after she was kidnapped and tortured by the Maduro regime. A former firefighter, she was lawfully admitted to the U.S. at the Nogales port of entry in 2023 and has a pending asylum application.
- Masked agents arrested Maluenga Avila without explanation on Jan. 26 at a bank in Tucson and sent her to Eloy Detention Center. She was held for 18 days in what she called "inhumane" conditions, triggering her post-traumatic stress disorder.
- She was released on Feb. 18, after her attorney filed a habeas corpus petition challenging the legality of her detention. Habeas petitions have become a critical constitutional backstop against unlawful arrests and detentions by the Trump administration, immigration attorney Mo Goldman said.
- Less than 14% of immigrants arrested by ICE in 2025 had violent criminal records, according to DHS data obtained by CBS News. At Maluenga Avila's Feb. 12 hearing at Eloy's immigration court, attorney Goldman criticized the "inexplicable" arrest. "She did everything right," he said. "She's not 'the worst of the worst'."
- ICE did not respond to the Star's questions about why she was arrested. ICE also did not respond to her claim that agents told her she was "worth $1,500" as they arrested her, which she understood to be a "bounty" for her arrest. Maluenga Avila's claim echoes news reports of agents bragging about getting cash for immigrant arrests.
