By Associated Press’s Jack Brook
Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana who supports President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies, pushed for the release of the wife of an Amarine Corps veteran from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
As the Trump administration continues to pressure immigration authorities to detain 3,000 people every day who are suspected of being in the United States illegally, Mexican national Paola Clouatre was among the tens of thousands of people in ICE detention until this week.
After a judge stopped her deportation order earlier that week, Kennedy’s office stated Friday that it had submitted a request for her release to the Department of Homeland Security, according to emails seen by The Associated Press. By Monday, she and her veteran husband Adrian Clouatre, along with their two young children, had left a remote ICE detention facility in north Louisiana and returned home to Baton Rouge.
Christy Tate, Kennedy’s constituent services representative, thanked Adrian Clouatre for his military service and congratulated him on his wife’s release. In an email to Adrian Clouatre, Tate stated, “I am so happy for you and your family.” God is amazing!
The family’s lawyer, Carey Holliday, said that Kennedy’s office was crucial in interacting with the Department of Homeland Security. Kennedy’s staff declined to comment further.
Following significant uproar, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Republican from Louisiana, also recently worked with the Department of Homeland Security to negotiate the release of an Iranian mother from ICE detention. The woman has been a resident of New Orleans for decades.
In general, Kennedy has been a strong advocate for Trump’s immigration policy.
Following a string of recent television appearances criticizing attempts to stop ICE officials from conducting arrests, Kennedy said on his Facebook page on July 17 that illegal immigration is unlawful, of course. However, he chastised the Trump administration in April for deporting a Maryland man in error.
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The AP was previously informed by the Department of Homeland Security that Clouatre was deemed to be in the country illegally.
After Paola Clouatre was arrested in late May, the family’s lawyer contacted Kennedy’s office in early June, according to an email chain that Adrian Clouatre shared.
The email exchange stated that Tate contacted ICE after receiving Paola Clouatre’s court paperwork by early July.
Paola Clouatre’s deportation order was delayed by an immigration judge on July 23. Tate claimed that after Adrian Clouatre informed Kennedy’s office, she forwarded a copy of the judge’s motion to DHS along with the request to release Paola Clouatre, according to emails.
Tate claimed in an email a few days later that ICE informed her that it still bases custody decisions on the particulars of each case and that it had received the judge’s ruling from Kennedy’s office for review.
Paola Clouatre was released from detention the following business day.
In an email to Adrian Clouatre, Tate stated, “You, your family, and others who are going through the same difficulties will continue to be in our prayers.” Please get in touch with us if you require our help again.
On May 27, Paola Clouatre was arrested by ICE authorities while attending a meeting pertaining to her application for a green card.
According to her, her husband, and her lawyer, she was legally processed while applying for asylum after entering the country as a minor from Mexico with her mother over ten years ago. A judge issued a deportation order against Paola Clouatre in 2018 when her mother failed to appear for a court hearing; however, by that time, she was homeless and had grown distant from her mother.
A request for comment on Clouatre’s release was not immediately answered by the Department of Homeland Security.
Before holding people like his wife in custody, Adrian Clouatre expressed his wish that the agency would genuinely consider the situation. It must be more than a blanket. They should be placed in ICE detention since they are illegal.
Paola Clouatre told AP that she feels like a mother again after being reunited with her nursing baby girl and allowed to cuddle with her toddler son.
“I felt bad about being in detention,” she stated. I felt as though I had let my children down.
Eventually, Paola Clouatre should be able to get her green card, according to her lawyer, but it will probably take several years for the immigration court proceedings to be officially concluded.
Her spouse claims that even though she is currently wearing an ankle monitor, she is still able to resume her life where she left off. The couple had intended to try some of the renowned French pastries known as beignets in New Orleans on the day of her arrest, and her husband believes they will finally get the opportunity again: We’re going to make that day up.
Brook is a member of the Statehouse News Initiative’s Report for America/Associated Press corps.A nonprofit national service initiative called Report for America places reporters in local newsrooms to explore topics that aren’t often covered.
