TACOMA, Wash.—Maria Loya Medina, an Oregon mother detained at the ICE detention center in Tacoma for nearly four months, was freed Friday morning — a full night after a federal judge ordered her immediate release. Masked agents smashed Maria’s car window and detained her in January while she was shopping for socks for her son in Albany, Oregon.
“Estamos agradecidos de que por fin se hizo justicia con mi esposa. Mis hijos y yo estaremos plenos con mi esposa en casa. La verdad, no tengo palabras para describir qué contentos estamos,” said Maria’s husband. (Translation: “We are grateful that my wife finally got the justice she deserved. My children and I will be complete with my wife at home. Truly, I have no words to describe how happy we are.)
In the ruling Thursday, the federal court found an immigration judge violated Maria’s constitutional due process rights in denying her release on bond. The court determined that she was not provided a fair bond hearing, and that ICE had no lawful basis to detain her. The ruling is the second time the same federal court has found that Maria’s detention was unlawful.
Although the judge ordered her immediate release at 5 p.m. Thursday because her detention was unconstitutional, ICE refused to comply with the order until Friday, forcing Maria to spend another night trapped in ICE detention.
“Maria spent another night separated from her family in violation of the Constitution and the judge’s order,” said Stephen W. Manning, an attorney at Innovation Law Lab and co-counsel on the case. “While ICE operates a 24/7 arrest machine, it only bothers to comply with the Constitution and court orders during banker’s hours.”
Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici, who visited Maria in Tacoma and has continued to advocate for her release, said: “I’m grateful that Maria will finally be home with her family and will begin to recover from the anxiety caused by this egregious ICE overreach. Like too many others across the country, Maria has had her life completely disrupted by the President’s illegal and aggressive tactics. I will continue to fight these inhumane policies and actions with policy and protest and in the legal system."
Maria was detained as part of Operation Black Rose—a DHS operation in which ICE agents used surveillance technology and warrantless arrests to conduct destabilizing community sweeps throughout Oregon.
While she is now released from detention, Maria’s immigration case remains on appeal. She will continue to fight to remain in the U.S. with her family.
Maria has lived in the U.S. for 21 years and in Oregon for nearly a decade. Maria has no criminal record, and works as a house cleaner. During her four-month detention, Maria’s 14-year-old daughter was diagnosed with depression. Her 16-year-old son took on caregiving responsibilities for his sister and his father, who had a stroke in December 2025 and is recovering from heart surgery.
“We are grateful Maria is finally home, but she should have never spent a single day in detention,” said José G. Miranda, senior staff attorney at Innovation Law Lab. “Maria was separated from her family for months, because ICE refused to follow the law. We are vindicated by the federal court’s decision to hold ICE to account and free her.”
"This is another sad example of the immigration court's practice of denying bond to community members without legal justification, keeping them locked up and separated from their families during the lengthy immigration proceedings," said Matt Adams, legal director for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. "We are grateful that the district court has ordered her immediate release, so that she can return to her family. As the court noted, she is the primary caregiver for her two U.S. citizen children and her husband, who requires ongoing care following a stroke."
The case filings are online at https://innovationlawlab.org/case/loya-medina-v-hernandez.
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