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A pregnant woman eight months along, identified as Leonela, was deported to Nicaragua after being detained by federal agents in Los Angeles while attending a medical appointment related to her pregnancy, according to her husband's testimony in a report by Noticias Telemundo.
According to the husband, the arrest took place on the morning of last Wednesday, just days after the baby shower.
Leonela had attended her medical appointment and, when she was waiting for an Uber near an intersection in the central-southern area of Los Angeles, she was intercepted by the agents.
The man stated that the family went more than two days without hearing from her until he finally received a call made from the phone of another woman who was also deported, during which Leonela informed him that she was already in Nicaragua.
The husband also stated that Leonela felt pressured to sign the deportation, according to what she told him after the call.
Search without answers and ICE version
Activists from Unión del Barrio stated that, along with lawyers, they searched for her for two days in detention centers, police stations, and hospitals, but were unable to locate her.
According to the report, an agent consulted multiple times assured them that Leonela had not been in custody and that “she had never been arrested.”
Telemundo indicated that it contacted ICE for details about the case, but had not received a response at the time of the report.
The report states that 10 days prior, the couple had celebrated the baby shower in Los Angeles and that the gifts for their future first baby remained unopened.
The husband—who appears with his face covered out of fear—believed that the arrest may be related to Leonela disrupting her application for political asylum: he said that she had a final appointment scheduled for November, but did not show up.
The man explained that he is Mexican, that he does not have a lawyer, that he has never been to Nicaragua, and that now his wife —originally from that country— is there about to give birth.
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