IMMIGRATION/NATIONAL SECURITY/TRAVEL BAN: “Immigrant advocates and local law enforcers expressed fears on Thursday [2-16-17] that the arrest of an undocumented woman at a Texas courthouse as she sought protection from domestic violence would discourage others from asking for help.
Officials in El Paso, Texas, said that the detention of the woman moments after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents watched a judge grant her a protective order was an alarming development that had sent shockwaves through the community.The woman has been a victim of violence by her partner on at least three occasions, has filed three police reports and endured punching, kicking, choking and having a knife thrown at her, Jo Anne Bernal, the El Paso county attorney, said on a conference call with reporters.
As the protective order was granted on 9 February, Bernal said, an Ice agent sat through the proceedings in the courtroom. Two federal agents were placed at exits, she said. After the end of the hearing, agents escorted the woman from the courtroom area on the 10th floor and out of the building. She is presently in the county jail.”
– Tom Dart, “Undocumented Texas woman arrested while seeking domestic violence help,” The Guardian, Feb. 16, 2017