A pregnant South African woman was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and detained at an airport in Las Vegas, Nevada.
According to 8News Now, Nqobile Malangeni was detained on July 31 at the Harry Reid International Airport as she was preparing to board a JetBlue flight to Connecticut.
Malangeni lives in Connecticut with her fiancé, a former member of the US armed forces. She travelled to Las Vegas for vacation to celebrate her birthday on July 27.
Footage of her arrest by ICE agents has been shared across US media broadcasters.
In the footage, Malangeni is surrounded by ICE agents who tell the pregnant woman they were in possession of a final order of removal against her as she had overstayed her authorised period of stay.
Malangeni is being held at the Henderson Detention Center in Nevada.
Speaking to local media, Malangeni’s fiancé was distraught. He told reporters they plan to get married and said his biggest fear was not getting to meet their child should Malangeni be deported back to South Africa.
“I feel like there should be justice and another chance for us to be able to keep our family together, and especially, to be able to live normally just like everyone else that’s here,” he said.
“I feel that in this case there should be some kind of understanding and justice because not all immigrants are trying to beat the system,” the fiancé said.
The military veteran who enlisted in 2013 called on the US government to release his fiancé.
He further said Malengeni entered the U.S a year and a half ago.
“I feel that if we would’ve received the removal letter the right way and knew about it, this would’ve never been an issue to begin with,” he said.
According to information on the ICE website, once an individual has received a final order of removal and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) has coordinated with the necessary partners, ERO will arrange the subject’s return via chartered flight or commercial airline.
“ERO uses contracted charter flights to transfer detainees throughout the United States to various ICE-managed detention facilities in preparation for removal, or to return individuals to their countries of origin. In addition, depending on geography, the number of persons being removed, and other case specifics, ERO also removes detained aliens via commercial airlines. Detainees may be escorted or unescorted on these commercial flights,” it reads.
IOL has reached out to both ICE and Dirco, and comments will be added once received.
