Amid a sudden spike in arrests at domestic airports, immigration lawyer Poonam Gupta said what is happening is not a fault of the visa holders; it is assumptions going wrong. Citing the recent case of Oakland’s Chantal Morales Rojas who was arrested on the accusation of visa overstay, Gupta said Rojas came to the US legally on a J-1 visa as an au pair. Before it expired, she timely filed an extension application, but that did not stop ICE officials from detaining her. And she was released only after a court order.Gupta urged visa holders not to assume that they won’t be detained just because they filed an extension for their visa on time and becaue they do not have any criminal record.“A timely-filed extension or status application legally starts a period of authorized stay. ICE is arresting people anyway. At airport check-in counters and gates, including travelers with pending green card, asylum, and extension applications, at least 27 arrests across 15 airports in 9 states in recent weeks, per an internal DHS memo obtained by ABC News,” Gupta wrote in a LinkedIn post.“Two things people assume protect them. Right now, neither reliably does: A pending extension application: legally, this starts authorized stay; A domestic flight: no border, no customs, should be lower risk,” she explained.“This isn’t a loophole or a technicality — it’s the law working as intended, and ICE treating it as if it doesn’t,” she said urging visa holders to consult their immigration attorneys before booking domestic flights.
What is the case of Chantal Morales Rojas?
Chantal Morales Rojas, an Oakland resident originally from Ecuador, took part in a short group trip to Denver for a frisbee tournament but she was stopped, questioned and then arrested on the jetway of her flight home on July 20. The administration said she was detained as she overstayed her visa that expired on January 4, 2025. She was taken to the GEO Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado, while her friends started raising money for legal help.Last week, Rojas was released on a $3,000 bond.Rojas filed an extension of her visa before it expired but it remained pending at the time of her arrest.
