Detention of Armelle Bondonga During Routine Green-Card Interview

On August 12, federal immigration officials detained 21-year-old Armelle Bondonga of Louisville, Kentucky, while she was attending a scheduled interview for a marriage-based green-card petition with her U.S.-citizen husband, Terrance Bradshaw, and their 18-month-old son. Bondonga had entered the United States on a visa in 2013 that expired in March 2014. The agency added that she later received a final order of removal from an immigration judge.

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Bondonga arrived in the United States in 2013, lived in several states before settling in Kentucky, and graduated from Jefferson Community and Technical College with a business-management degree. While in high school she co-founded “Future Ancestors,” a student group created after the killing of Breonna Taylor, and has been active in local community events. She has repeatedly stated that she fled the Democratic Republic of the Congo to escape violence, poverty, and repression.

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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintained that the detention followed legal procedures tied to her visa overstay and removal order.

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• “She went to that interview because she and her husband were attempting to follow the legal process available to them and resolve her immigration status lawfully,” — Arianit Osmani, attorney

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• “I was able to meet with her in detention, and while her conditions have improved, she has been through a horrific ordeal, spending her first night in detention sleeping on a cold concrete floor surrounded by strangers,” — State Representative Nima Kulkarni

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• “Not a criminal, not a drain on our society, but someone who has devoted her young life to others in her community,” — State Representative Nima Kulkarni

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• “This is someone who is a leader in the Louisville community, with deep local ties, who was attending what was meant to be a routine immigration appointment,” — Charles Booker

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