64-Year-Old Green Card Holder Released from 3-Month ICE Detention

A 64-year-old health worker legally residing in the United States for five decades was released from immigration custody on Thursday after being detained at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in February.

NBC News reported that Lewelyn Dixon, a lab technician at the University of Washington, had been held at the Northwest ICE Processing Centre in Tacoma for three months. A judge ruled she does not meet the criteria for deportation.

“It was horrific; it was awful,” Dixon said outside the facility, according to NBC News. “It is crowded — super crowded. They release maybe nine, bring back seven, and release one; they bring three.”

Dixon, a green-card holder since her teens, was returning from a visit to the Philippines when she was detained. NBC News added that her attorney, Benjamin Osorio, said the arrest stemmed from a 2000 embezzlement conviction related to her work at Washington Mutual Bank.

“She turned it all around,” said her niece, Lani Madriaga. “She really worked hard and focused on health care, where it’s about helping the community.”

Now reunited with family, Dixon is looking to obtain U.S. citizenship and continue supporting detainees she met in custody.