Cliona Ward, an Irish woman who has been legally resident in the U.S. for 30 years but who was recently detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, has been released.
The release followed a May 7 hearing in Tacoma, Washington where Ward, 54, was being held.
Last month she was detained by federal authorities at San Francisco International Airport after returning from Ireland where she had visited her father, who is in ill health.
The detention, according to reports, was linked to 20-year-old drug possession charges that were expunged.
Ward's imprisonment prompted considerable interest in California news outlets, not least due to the fact that she was a legal resident in the U.S.
California politicians, including U.S. Congressman Jimmy Panetta, protested her detention and Ward's family set up a Go Fund Me campaign on her behalf.
After Ward's release, and as reported by the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Ward's attorney, Michael Mehr, stated: "Prior to the current Trump administration, Customs and Border Protection would not have detained a lawful permanent resident returning from a short trip abroad for expunged convictions that are decades old.
"Unfortunately, the current Trump administration is unreasonably detaining and deporting foreign nationals from the United States for insufficient reasons or to deprive them of the right to freedom of speech in other cases."
Ward's sister, Orla Holladay, who organized the Go Fund Me effort, said on the campaign website: "Cliona is finally in her own bed and we are all ready for some quiet and reflection. I will leave the Go fund Me open because Cliona wants to be able to say something to you all on an update, but at this point you can consider it an absolute and beautiful success. Each of you have literally helped to save Cliona's life as she knows it and we love you for your humanity and kindness. In solidarity and love."
Holladay added: "Cliona will write soon and then we will shut this fundraiser down."
