Estefany Rodriguez, the Nashville reporter who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents earlier this month, remains in custody despite being granted bond.
Her lawyer, Joel Coxander, said in a virtual news conference Monday that an immigration judge granted her release on bond, but that she must remain in a south Louisiana processing center while attorneys for ICE decide whether or not to appeal the decision.
If the government lawyers decide to take action, Rodriguez would remain in detention while the appeal is processed. If no appeal is filed, she can be released by posting her $10,000 bond while her case moves through the court system.
ICE has until the end of day Tuesday to decide if it will appeal.
Rodriguez, who works for the local news network Nashville Noticias and Univision 42 Nashville, was detained on March 4 during a traffic stop outside of a gym while with her husband, Nashville Noticias reported in an official statement.
“[Agents] demanded that our colleague be taken into custody for reasons that the legal team will specify at a later date. Estefany Rodriguez was taken to a detention center,” the news organization claimed. “She joined the Nashville Noticias team in 2022, covering social, family, health, police and immigration issues.”
Born in Colombia, Rodriguez came to the U.S. five years ago with a valid work permit and is married to a U.S. citizen, her lawyers have claimed.
In court documents filed Monday and reviewed by The Times, Rodriguez’s legal team argued that she was arrested without a proper warrant.
In an X post from March 7, the Department of Homeland Security provided a photo of a warrant for Rodriguez that was dated March 4.
ICE lawyers have previously claimed that Rodriguez’s detention is not a violation of the Fourth Amendment because a warrant was presented at the time of arrest.
Rodriguez’s team alleged that ICE had not previously filed that warrant with the court.
Her lawyers also claimed that she was unable to make contact with her legal representation for over a week after being detained.
“Rodriguez was transported to a county jail in Etowah, Alabama. She was held in that jail from Wednesday, March 4, through Thursday, March 12,” Rodriguez’s lawyers argued. “The Etowah jailers refused to set up an attorney-client call between Rodriguez and counsel, saying that they simply do not do attorney calls.”
It wasn’t until she was transferred to the ICE center in Louisiana that she was able to contact her legal team for the first time since briefly speaking with Coxander on March 4 immediately following her arrest, the filing claims.
Lawyers for Rodriguez also alleged that she has “suffered both physically and emotionally” as a result of her detention.
A DHS spokesperson told The Times earlier this month that Rodriguez was arrested because her tourist visa had expired in September 2021.
Rodriguez has previously applied for legal status and political asylum. She has had two meetings with ICE regarding her legal status rescheduled, her lawyers claimed. One meeting was put off due to a weather event and the other was delayed due to a filing error.
According to court documents, Rodriguez had her meeting with ICE rescheduled for Tuesday.
Rodriguez is at least the third journalist arrested by federal agents this year.
In January, former CNN anchor Don Lemon was arrested in Los Angeles by federal agents on charges that he violated federal law during a protest a week prior to his arrest at Cities Church in St. Paul, Minn.
Minnesota independent journalist Georgia Fort was arrested under the same charges as Lemon.
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