A breastfeeding Florida mother with a pending asylum application remains in custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) more than two weeks after filing a petition for writ of habeas corpus, calling into question the “legality” and “cruelty” of Trump administration deportation and detention efforts, immigration justice advocates say.
As first reported by Raw Story, Yury Ussa Polania, 43, of Winter Park, Fla., has been held by ICE since May 4, and has been moved through at least five facilities across the state following her arrest for alleged petty theft on May 2.
Ussa Polania, born in Colombia, is now 200 miles from her family at Broward Transitional Center, an ICE detention facility in Pompano Beach, Fla., according to the ICE online detainee locator and her legal team.
A family member confirmed that Ussa Polania has not seen any relative in person since she was taken by ICE. Ussa Polania has been allowed a video call with her husband and their children.
“It’s just terrible to think about the emotional impact that this is having and the developmental impact this is having on her [1-year-old, U.S. citizen] daughter,” said Adriel Orozco, senior policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, an advocacy and policy nonprofit.
“This is just emblematic of the cruelty of this administration's immigrant enforcement policies, honestly.”
In her petition for writ of habeas corpus, Ussa Polania requested immediate release, claiming her “custody is in violation of the laws and Constitution of the United States.” The petition named as respondents Kristi Noem, Secretary of Homeland Security; Pam Bondi, U.S. Attorney General; Pete R. Flores, Acting Commissioner for U.S. Customs and Border Protection; ICE; the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and the Warden of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
On May 20, the respondents filed a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction. It was referred to Magistrate Judge Leslie Hoffman Price, according to filings in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida.
Mike Alvarez, media operations unit chief at ICE headquarters, acknowledged Raw Story’s questions about Ussa Polania but did not respond by the time of publication.
Early on Thursday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Republicans’ “One Big Beautiful Bill,” a spending measure including pay raises for ICE and border patrol agents, according to a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump.
In response to a request for comment, Deputy White House press secretary Abigail Jackson said: “The detained illegal immigrant is a citizen of Colombia who overstayed her visa and was arrested for petit larceny while already being in the United States illegally. President Trump is keeping his promise to the American people to deport illegal aliens and they are incredibly supportive of his immigration agenda.”
Jackson also questioned Raw Story's reporting, saying: “I noticed in your previous you use terms like: 'breastfeeding mom of US citizen' and 'breastfeeding mother from Colombia living in Florida' — is there a reason you refuse to say 'illegal immigrant?'”
In response, Raw Story explained that Ussa Polania’s legal team said their client did not enter or stay in the U.S. illegally.
When Raw Story asked for documentation about Ussa Polania’s illegal status as alleged by the White House, Jackson said: “She overstayed her visa and is illegally present in the US.”
Immigration experts tell Raw Story ICE is likely continuing to hold Ussa Polania because of the zero tolerance policy for theft and mandatory detention guidelines in the Laken Riley Act, a law signed when Trump returned to office and named for a college student murdered in February 2024 by a Venezuelan man who entered the U.S. illegally.
“If you look at the law, it seems like even if she has a pending application, though they're not allowed to deport her without her consent or without her abandoning her application, they could still keep her behind bars,” Orozco said.
Ussa Polania was booked at Seminole County Jail on May 2 for charges related to petty theft with an estimated value between $100 and $750, according to Frances Matos in the booking department at Seminole County Jail and an arrest report from the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office shared with Raw Story.
Stefany Garcia Izquierdo, 34, a family member, shared a receipt showing Ussa Polania's husband paid a $500 bond on May 3, yet she wasn't released.
Ussa Polania “left with ICE” on May 4, Matos said.
Jay Bar-Levy, a paralegal for Ussa Polania’s attorney, Daniel Perez, said there was a "misunderstanding at a Walmart for $34."
Bar-Levy said ICE is “coercing her to sign a voluntary departure, which is not normal.”
“You don't do that, especially with people that are claiming that they are facing harm in the countries where they came from now,” Bar-Levy said.
Ussa Polania has a pending asylum application under the Convention Against Torture and a work authorization through 2029, according to her petition.
Under past administrations, ICE might have considered allowing Ussa Polania to leave detention, given her primary caretaker responsibilities to her 1-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son, with lawyers able to request an ankle monitor or more frequent check-ins while she pursued her legal process, Orozco said.
“This is the sad reality of what we expected was going to happen under the Laken Riley Act, that people with very minor issues are going to be taken into custody by ICE, and they're not going to have any recourse just because of the way the law is written,” Orozco said.
“It's very black and white, and it doesn't allow for the nuances of people's existence to be taken into account.”
Adriana Rivera, communications director for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said the Trump administration doesn’t give “a hoot about due process” or “legality” in cases like Ussa Polania’s.
“[The Trump administration is] really being just blatantly unlawful, and that can be evidenced by all of the litigation that has been brought forth, all of the fights in the courts, the fact that even Trump-appointed judges, Bush-appointed judges have said ‘this is illegal. You cannot do this,’” Rivera said.
“What's even more shocking is the fact that they continue to brazenly not only continue their behavior, but also not pay attention to what the courts are saying.”
A federal judge said Wednesday the Trump administration violated a court order on deportations when eight immigrants were sent to South Sudan.
“Everybody in this country is entitled to due process,” Rivera said. “This isn't just something that you get once you become a U.S. citizen.”
Rivera said Ussa Polania’s case reminded her of Heidy Sánchez, who was deported to Cuba in late April, separated from her 17-month-old daughter and husband, both U.S. citizens.
“It's unfortunate that a lot of people fell into the lies and the manipulation of the administration using words such as ‘We're going to go after criminals,’ when it was all code,” Rivera said.
“It was just a coded language to say, if you don't have a regularized status, you are one of these ‘criminals’ that we're going to go after.”
Alianza Republicana de Las Americas, a Republican group, requested assistance from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) with Ussa Polania’s case, but his office “refused to intervene because of the political climate,” said Bar-Levy, a member of the alliance.
“It’s a shame that your office is staying away from intervening in humanitarian cases such as this one and all because you don’t want to upset @realDonaldTrump!” Alianza Republicana posted on X on May 8.
🚨SHAME ON YOU SENATOR RICK SCOTT🚨 @SenRickScott
Our office requested help to your office for Mrs. Yury Ussa Polania an asylum Seeker with authorization to remain in the U.S., who without cause is being detained by @USCIS while her infant U.S. Citizen daughter is alone and…
— Alianza Republicana de Las Americas (@alianza_gop) May 8, 2025
“We are a Republican Alliance that fully supports our president’s decisions but NOT THIS ONE!”
Spokespeople for Scott did not respond to a request for comment.
Raw Story reached out to Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL) and Reps. Cory Mills (R-FL) and Maxwell Frost (D-FL) for comment, without response.
A spokesperson for Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), who publicly expressed regretting voting for the Laken Riley Act, acknowledged Raw Story’s questions but did not comment.
Bar-Levy said Ussa Polania has been granted little contact with her attorney, and the legal team was planning to request bond on Thursday.
“She doesn't understand why her lawyer is being prevented from communicating,” Bar-Levy said.
Cristian Correa Izquierdo, Ussa Polania’s husband, told Raw Story on May 16 the situation was “not good,” but “we have faith she can get out.”