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The lawyers of Colombian journalist Estefany Rodríguez Flores, who was arrested on March 4 by agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Nashville, continue to denounce her detention as illegal, while the government claims that she was residing in the United States unlawfully.
Rodríguez Flores, a reporter for Nashville Noticias, was detained at 7:15 AM outside a gym located on Murfreesboro Pike in Nashville, when several vehicles surrounded the car in which she was with her husband, a U.S. citizen, according to the news organization itself in an official statement.
After being intercepted by several men who got out of the vehicles, the journalist was arrested and taken to an immigration detention center.
A Colombian citizen and mother of an eight-year-old girl, Rodríguez has been working at Nashville Noticias since 2022, covering social, police, and immigration issues for the Hispanic community in central Tennessee.
The organization stated in its announcement that it respects the laws of the United States and expressed hope that the reporter will be released to continue her legal process and reunite with her family.
The lawyers defending her, from MIRA Legal, filed an emergency petition with a federal court requesting her release, arguing that the detention should not have occurred. According to attorney Joel Coxander, “so far, there has not been a single case in which ICE has accused her of anything. There is no case in an immigration court.”
The defense explained that Rodríguez entered the United States in 2021 with a tourist visa and subsequently applied for asylum while attempting to obtain permanent residency through her husband. It is also argued that the arrest violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, as it was carried out without a warrant or evidence that she posed a flight risk.
ICE holds a different view. According to information cited by Nashville Noticias, the agency claims that Rodríguez missed two immigration interview appointments, which, in the authorities' opinion, indicated a flight risk. However, the defense asserts that the first interview coincided with a snowstorm in Nashville that made attendance impossible, and that the appointment was subsequently rescheduled.
The husband of the journalist, Alejandro Medina III, questioned the foundations of the procedure applied by ICE: “At this moment, my wife is being held after being arrested by eight armed agents, over a letter that was not found in the same system of the office that detained her,” he stated during a conference held at the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Coalition (TIRRC) facilities.
In response to the petition filed by the defense, federal government attorneys argued before the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee that the accusation of an unlawful detention "is simply false."
They also stated in writing that Rodríguez's B2 tourist visa had expired and that "he has been in the United States illegally since at least September 9, 2021."
Nevertheless, the defense claims that the documentation submitted by ICE suggests that the arrest warrant was not properly delivered, and they request that the court orders his immediate release while the legal proceedings continue.
A hearing to review Rodríguez's case is scheduled to take place in the coming hours, while his legal team and immigrant support organizations continue to demand his release.
The case adds to the long list of lawsuits and claims due to the wave of ICE detentions under the immigration policy of the current U.S. administration. Many Cubans have been victims of these procedures.
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