Wendell woman caught in immigration sweep denied bond at hearing
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Federal judge cited DOJ ruling and denied bond for a woman from Wendell.
- She was arrested at a Cary work site during a nationwide Border Patrol surge.
- Attorneys will appeal and seek district court relief while removal case proceeds.
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U.S. Border Patrol in the Triangle
The U.S. Border Patrol sent agents to Raleigh, Durham, Cary and other parts of the Triangle Nov. 18 and 19 after a surge of enforcement in Charlotte. Here’s ongoing reporting from The News & Observer.
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A Wendell woman arrested at work in the recent U.S. Border Patrol’s immigration sweep appeared before a federal immigration judge in Georgia on Tuesday seeking to be released on bond, only to hear a judge say she no longer has the authority to do so.
Federal Immigration Judge Jerrica Harness cited a recent Trump administration Justice Department ruling that effectively prevents her and other immigration judges from setting bond for those who entered the U.S. without legal authorization
“I do not have the power, the authority, to grant you bond and I’m denying your bond request,” Harness told Fatima Issela Velasquez-Antonio.
Her attorneys are appealing the decision to a different court.
Velasquez-Antonio, 23, is being held in Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga. She came to the United States from Honduras when she was 14 after her father was murdered by a gang member, a family member said. Her mother had previously died from cancer.
Family in the Triangle raised her, and say she graduated from Corinth Holders High School in Johnston County. She had been working for an HVAC company and was arrested last week at a construction site in Cary. State court records show she had nothing more than two traffic citations.
Velasquez-Antonio is one of a sliver of people among those detained in North Carolina whose names are public. At least 370 people were arrested during a detention surge that began in Charlotte on Nov. 15, and then expanded to the Triangle three days later.
During the surge, often masked Border Patrol agents approached people at work sites, in retail store parking lots and elsewhere. Video taken by a friend and co-worker showed federal agents put Velasquez-Antonio in handcuffs and loaded her into a van after she failed to produce a document showing she had legal status in the United States.
While several North Carolina Republican leaders have praised the surge, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis has demanded federal authorities reveal more about their actions, including releasing the names of those detained.
That is necessary, he said at a meeting of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, to show whether all that occurred during the surge was lawful.
The office of U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross, a Raleigh Democrat, has communicated with Velasquez-Antonio’s lawyers to “better understand the case and if there is any support and assistance we can offer,” said Josie Feron, Ross’s communications director.
U.S. Homeland Security officials in a media release have said 44 of those arrested in the “Charlotte’s Web” sweep had criminal records. Research by the Cato Institute and others has shown the majority of people taken into custody nationally have had few, if any, run-ins with the law over the past year.
Critics say that federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the border patrol in these sweeps, including those in Illinois and California earlier, are targeting people based on the color of their skin.
Policy reversal
Velasquez-Antonio sat quietly during the hearing, wearing what appeared to be black prison garb.
She should be eligible for bond because she came here as an unaccompanied child seeking asylum and was therefore a lawful resident not bound by the recent Justice Department decision, Andrea Valiente, Velasquez-Antonio’s attorney, argued at the hearing
That decision came in September in a case that Politico and news outlets reported effectively reversed decades of immigration policy regarding people who had been in the U.S. for more than two years.
The ruling by the department’s Bureau of Immigration Appeals “concludes that detention is mandatory for anyone in deportation proceedings who entered the U.S. ‘without inspection,’” Politico reported. The ruling was expected to affect millions of immigrants who have yet to get legal status.
Velasquez-Antonio spoke just once, to say “Si,” yes in Spanish, when asked if she needed an interpreter. Harness arranged for one by phone but that call was dropped in the middle of the proceeding.
Harness called another interpreter at the end of the hearing to explain to Velasquez-Antonio what just happened.
As she awaited that explanation, Gene Smith of Wilson, who was watching a video broadcast of her hearing and is the boyfriend of a family member, broke the silence. He told her that her family loves her.
“They’re fighting for you,” he said. “They are trying to get you home.”
Velasquez-Antonio wiped away tears after Smith spoke.
He, along with Valiente, Homeland Security attorney Winston McMillan and others attended the hearing virtually.
Velasquez-Antonio’s lead attorney, Ashley Lively of Charlotte, said she plans to seek her release in a U.S. District Court in Georgia, where she expects her client will have a better chance, though getting a ruling could take months.
Federal district judges are not bound by the Justice Department ruling, Politico reported.
In the meantime, a preliminary hearing on whether she should remain in the U.S. is scheduled before Harness on Dec. 5.
This story was originally published November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM.
