Lawyers for the Ecuadorian woman detained by federal agents at Denver International Airport this week have filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her arrest and confinement at the immigration detention facility in Aurora.
The Lichter Immigration law firm in Denver filed the federal petition Thursday on behalf of 27-year-old Chantal Alejandra Morales Rojas. Habeas petitions challenge someone’s incarceration, although not necessarily the underlying legal case that led to that confinement.
Under the Trump administration’s surge in immigration arrests and deportations, habeas petitions have become the predominant avenue for immigrants seeking release from detention.
A representative from U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday. The agency previously said Morales Rojas entered the U.S. on Oct. 20, 2024, and overstayed her visa, which allowed her to remain in the country until Jan. 4, 2025.
Video of Morales Rojas’ arrest at a Southwest Airlines gate at DIA on Monday has been widely shared on social media.
According to her attorneys, Morales Rojas entered the United States lawfully in January 2023 as a J-1 exchange visitor — a legal status allowing her to work as an au pair. She re-entered on a visa in 2024, according to her attorneys.
Before the end of the exchange program, Morales Rojas’ attorneys said she filed an application with U.S. immigration authorities allowing her to remain in the country while her case was under review. The application does not provide formal immigration status while she waits, the law firm said.
“During the last three and a half years, Morales Rojas lived openly in the United States with the government’s knowledge of her pending case, passed repeated background checks and received work authorization from (the Department of Homeland Security) while waiting for her application to be reviewed,” her attorneys said in a news release. “Morales Rojas has no criminal history or other concerns, and the process she’s pursuing is completely lawful.”
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On Monday, ICE agents arrested Morales Rojas at DIA while she was boarding a flight back to Oakland, Calif., where she lives, after spending the weekend providing childcare for her former au pair family while they were at an ultimate Frisbee competition in Aurora.
Her law firm argues that the federal government knew who Morales Rojas was and where she lived and that she had a pending application with immigration authorities allowing her to be in the U.S. while under review. The application authorized the 27-year-old to work, and Morales Rojas has also been studying computer science, her lawyers said.
“You might not know it from watching the headlines for the last 18 months, but ICE generally can’t just arrest someone because they think they’re violating the immigration laws,” said lead attorney Laura L. Lichter. “They can put a case in front of an immigration judge if they think someone is here illegally, but unless there’s a special circumstance, they can’t legally detain someone without a proper arrest warrant and taking the time to review each case to see if a person is actually a flight risk or a danger.”
The petition asks the federal court to order Morales Rojas’ immediate release or require the government to provide the individualized custody determination required by law.
“This case is bigger than immigration policy,” Lichter said. “It’s about whether the government can take away a person’s liberty first and ask questions later. Habeas corpus exists to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
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