ICE arrests UC Berkeley student and asylum seeker at San Francisco airport
A UC Berkeley student was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport Friday while waiting to board a flight to Portland for a vacation with her boyfriend.
Twenty-three-year-old UC Berkeley student and asylum seeker Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). The arrest has sparked protests from students and university officials. Albornoz Hernandez, who arrived in the U.S. from Colombia in 2022, had overstayed her visa and was seeking asylum due to severe gender-based violence in Colombia.
She had a valid work permit and was conducting research on artificial intelligence at UC Berkeley. Her boyfriend, Anthony, said ICE agents approached them in the airport gate area and detained Albornoz Hernandez after she confirmed her name, despite agents not identifying themselves as ICE. ICE had detained her on September 6, 2022, under the pretense that her visa had expired, even though she had a valid work permit and pending asylum application.
Her attorneys filed a habeas corpus petition challenging her detention, arguing that the arrest violated federal law and the U.S. Constitution. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons urged for Albornoz Hernandez's release to allow her to resume her studies. ICE defended the arrest, stating that agents clearly identify themselves as law enforcement and that work authorization or a pending application does not confer legal status in the United States.
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