Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernández, a 23-year-old Colombian student at UC Berkeley, was detained by ICE while waiting to board a domestic flight.
The arrest occurred on October 30 at San Francisco International Airport. She was traveling with her boyfriend to Portland, Oregon, for the weekend.
The young woman is a Business Administration major and has a pending asylum application, according to her defense team, which has filed a federal appeal against the detention.
She remains in custody in California City while her lawyers seek her release and the university attempts to prevent the detention from interrupting her academic training.
23-year-old Colombian woman was detained by ICE while boarding a flight in the US: she was studying at Berkeley and had a pending asylum application https://t.co/DLxNg2gOU2
— EL TIEMPO (@ELTIEMPO) November 6, 2026
. Her partner, publicly identified as Anthony, recounted that a man in plain clothes approached them in the boarding area.
According to his testimony, the man mentioned incorrect names before asking for Paula, who confirmed her identity without initially realizing she was speaking with an agent.
Later, other agents separated the couple and informed her that she would be detained because her stay authorization had expired.
The account describes how the operation began from the boyfriend's perspective; by itself, it does not establish that a «trap» existed.
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. Attorney Nikolas de Bremaeker argues that Paula applied for asylum before the one-year deadline and fled gender violence in Colombia.
Her defense also claims that she had a valid work permit and questions the legality of the arrest through a habeas corpus petition.
The Department of Homeland Security states that she entered on September 6, 2022, and was authorized to stay until March 6, 2023.
The agency asserts that she did not leave when her permit expired, and as a result, she will remain in custody during the immigration proceedings, with the legality of her detention currently being challenged.
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. Chancellor Rich Lyons confirmed that the university has engaged legal counsel and is in contact with the family and organizations involved in the case.
In an institutional message, he expressed the campus's support and the goal of enabling the student to return to class.
Classmates and family members have also called for her release. Her sister Nicole has started a fundraiser to cover expenses related to the detention and defense.
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The immediate concerns include the classes and evaluations Paula is missing, as well as uncertainty about how long she will remain in custody.
The student has a scheduled immigration hearing for November 17, according to information released about her case.
This procedure is distinct from the federal petition challenging her detention; resolving one does not automatically decide the other.
For now, neither the pending asylum case nor the release request allows us to anticipate the court's decision.
For other immigrant families, her lawyer recommends consulting a legal representative about their specific situation before traveling by air within the country.
SOURCE: tvazteca, GoFundMe, ELPAIS
