Undated photo of Juana España Lopez.
Courtesy of Mimi Lettunich
A Honduran woman who was detained by immigration agents in Washington state while traveling with her daughter and four U.S.-born grandchildren has been released from custody.
Juana España Lopez, 71, was released Tuesday from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s detention center in Tacoma, Washington, after spending nearly three months in federal custody in spite of her pleas to return to her Central American home.
Her release came after an immigration judge dismissed the federal government’s case against her, according to U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter’s office. A family friend confirmed that Lopez has temporarily returned to Portland. Her attorney did not immediately respond to requests for an interview.
OPB first reported on the detention and eventual separation of the Merlos family, which includes Lopez; her daughter, Kenia Jackeline “Jackie” Merlos; her son-in-law Carlos Merlos; the Merlos’ 9-year-old triplets and 7-year-old son. All of the children were born in Oregon. Jackie and Carlos Merlos remain in custody.
Lopez arrived in the U.S. in June on a legal travel visa. She and her daughter — with the four grandchildren in tow — then traveled to Peace Arch State Park at the U.S.-Canada border to visit with another daughter who lives in Canada.
After their arrest, federal immigration agents accused Lopez and her daughter of “attempting to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S.” Days later, immigration agents picked up Lopez’s son-in-law at the family’s Portland home.
Lopez, her daughter and four grandchildren remained in custody at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Ferndale, Washington, until agents released the four children and transferred the adults to the Tacoma facility.
Undated photo of Kenia Jackeline Merlos, second from right, with her husband, Carlos Merlos, and their four children. She and the four children were detained at a Customs and Border Protection station near Ferndale, Wash., while Carlos was detained at an ICE facility in Tacoma, Wash.
Courtesy of Mimi Lettunich
The case drew outrage from immigrants’ rights advocates who said the agency was flouting its own guidelines about how long it can detain people.
Lopez’s detention was specifically “egregious,” Rep. Dexter said during a congressional hearing in Washington D.C. last week. Dexter said Lopez had clearly expressed a desire to return to Honduras if freed.
“After a family reunion where she was able to see her two daughters and her grandchildren together, she has been detained in an ICE facility despite being a legal visitor and has been denied to return to home country,” Dexter said.
Related: Immigration officials release Portland children detained near border
Mimi Lettunich, a family friend acting as the four kids’ guardian during their parents’ detentions, told lawmakers at the hearing that Lopez appeared to be ailing while in custody.
“(Lopez) is starting to be very unclear. She’s not completing sentences,” Lettunich said.
Lettunich noted that Lopez missed her scheduled flight to return to Honduras. Lettunich added that she booked additional flights but those, too, came and went while Lopez remained in custody.
“It’s absolutely absurd that we’re detaining a woman who wants to go back to her country, who is here legally, and we’re putting her life in jeopardy,” Dexter said at the hearing.
Related: Portland family detained at border facility for 2 weeks in apparent violation of immigration policy
It wasn’t immediately clear how or when Lopez could return home now that she has been released. Lettunich was not immediately available for comment.
Lopez is the second person to be suddenly released from the Northwest ICE Processing Center this week. On Wednesday, federal agents released an Oregon firefighter who was arrested in August while battling a wildfire in Washington’s Olympia Peninsula.
