This story was updated at 4:57 p.m.
Esther Ngoy Tekele, a 23-year-old Burlington resident from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was on her way home from a wedding in Canada with her family earlier this month when she was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
On Thursday morning, after 11 days behind bars at Vermont’s only prison for women, Tekele was granted bond during a hearing in a Massachusetts immigration court. Her attorney, Nathan Virag, said later on Thursday that he expected her to be released Friday.
Tekele’s lawyer says her case, which hinged on what the federal government claims was a discrepancy in the marital status Tekele listed on her visa application — she was single when she applied and received her visa, but married before she immigrated to the U.S. — represents an escalation in immigration enforcement, in which even legal permanent residents are being detained over administrative issues.
“Usually when you’re detaining people, it’s based on unlawful entry or criminal history,” said Virag. “She does not fit any of those categories. This is one of the first cases in Vermont with this set of facts.”
Tekele had crossed back and forth from Canada numerous times without issue — most recently in April — since she settled in the U.S. in 2021. She’s a legal permanent resident with a green card and a clean criminal record, Virag said. Her mother, brother and 2-year-old son are all U.S. citizens.
“This procedure is not normal,” Virag said. “Before the Trump presidency, what could happen is you could put people in removal proceedings. You don’t detain them for a week and a half away from their kid.”
The government is still seeking to deport Tekele, and she has another hearing on July 31.
Tekele’s brother, Coco Ngoy, 43, said the family had gone to Canada to attend his friend’s wedding. Tekele, a singer, was invited to perform at the ceremony. The family decided to return home that same night because Tekele’s son was in Burlington with a babysitter.
But as they tried to cross into the U.S. on July 6, border patrol ordered them to pull over and asked the whole family — Ngoy, his son, his mother, his father-in-law and his sister, Tekele — to come inside. By then it was late at night, and they were kept there for hours while only Tekele was questioned.
“We really don’t understand,” Ngoy said in an interview. “We usually go [to Canada] and come back. But that day, just one person decided to put her in jail, and it happened.”
Ngoy said Tekele was taken away without explanation around 5:30 a.m., when he went to get her some food after they both had stayed up through the night. When he came back, she was gone.
“Nobody would tell me where she was,” Ngoy said. “I left there hopeless, because I didn’t know if she was still there. They said, ‘We don’t know where she is. You need to leave.’ They were so disrespectful.”
A border patrol spokesperson said the agency does not comment on ongoing cases.
It took more than three days for Virag and other lawyers from the nonprofit Association of Africans Living in Vermont, with help from the office of U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), to find out that Tekele was being held by U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
Meanwhile, Tekele’s mother was left to care for Tekele’s young son. Ngoy said their mother has a history of strokes and has been unwell since she lost her husband to COVID-19 a few years ago.
“She can’t take care of herself, and now she has to care for a 2-year-old,” he said. “It’s very hard for her. My mom doesn’t drive. Esther drives her to all her appointments, checks her blood pressure, helps her with so many things, paying rent and all that. It’s really a nightmare.”
Tekele’s family and other supporters gathered at the Peace & Justice Center in Burlington to watch the virtual immigration hearing on Thursday morning.
“For now, I’m happy to hear that she will be out,” Ngoy said. “She will be able to see her son and her mom, so it’s good news.”