Venezuelan woman released from ICE detention facility in Pompano Beach following family protests

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. — After weeks in ice custody that included shifting locations, Venezuelan Claudia Caglionone is a free woman.

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“I leave my heart in there with all the women who are unjustly held inside,” she said in Spanish.

Monday’s release from an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Pompano Beach comes amid a public outcry and protests from Caglionone’s own family and friends just last week.

That’s when Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz toured the facility and highlighted Caglionone’s case, among others.

“I am very concerned that there are 671 people in this facility that shouldn’t be here,” said Wasserman Schultz.

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Caglionone, who graduated from St. Thomas University with a master’s degree in business administration, was detained early last month while at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

It was in 2017 when the 28-year-old first arrived to the United States from Venezuela on a tourist visa. She applied for asylum several months later, and with that asylum case pending, Caglionone was granted Temporary Protected Status in 2023, but that protection ended last year.

“We just want to get her home, give her a chance to kind of breathe and just be back home with us to recover for a bit,” said Ruth Lares Caglionone, Claudia’s cousin. “I’m just so happy and again so thankful that all of you were very supportive about this.”

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