FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A woman from the Bahamas was taken into custody by authorities at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after they discovered that she and her husband had overstayed their visas more than a decade ago.
James Walkine said his partner Lashar Smith was detained Tuesday after TSA flagged issues with her ID, prompting the Broward Sheriff’s Office to get involved. The couple has been living and raising a family after arriving from the Bahamas looking for a better life.
“She went through TSA, and they were giving her a hard time with the ID and said it wasn’t scanning,” Walkine said.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents then took her into custody, Walkine said, adding that she has no criminal record but was detained for being an overstay.
Smith later called from jail, where she told Walkine she had been moved to a detention facility in Baker County, about five hours away.
“I miss you too, princess,” she said during the call. “A lot of people that work here don’t understand what immigration or immigrants have to go through,”
Walkine said they had been trying to adjust their immigration status, but the process has been slow.
“A lot of red tape and confusion,” he said. “It got to the point where I had to get my 20-year-old daughter to re-file for me.”
Under Title 8 of U.S. code 1227, “any alien who was admitted as a nonimmigrant and who has failed to maintain the nonimmigrant status…or to comply with the conditions of any such status, is deportable.”
Walkine told Local 10 News that the process of trying to comply has been confusing, expensive and frustrating.
He said he will continue to try and has contacted his member of Congress. He also wants to hire an attorney to help get Smith released.
“I’ve been here since I was 8 — back and forth — to the Bahamas. This country is all I know. I can’t hate it,” Walkine said.
Under federal law, individuals who overstay their visas are considered to be in the country illegally and are subject to deportation.
The Trump administration has reinforced its stance on immigration enforcement.