Protests are being organized for Cliona Ward, the Irish green card holder who is in ICE custody, her sister Orla Holladay said in an update today, Thursday, May 1.
"I just spoke with Cliona and she is so elevated and empowered by the response that you and the community at large have expressed," Orla wrote in an update on the GoFundMe page today.
Launched just over a week ago, the GoFundMe - titled "Cliona's Hope: A Mother's Fight for Freedom" - has raised more than $41k across more than 760 donations.
Orla continued: "She has been moved from what she called a 'holding cell' to an actual unit in the detention center called a 'pod.' She is building community and support with the women she is in there with and wants to help all of them."
Orla said she is working with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which she says Cliona is a member of and pays dues to.
On Cliona's behalf, SEIU is "organizing protests for May 7th- her preliminary court hearing," Orla said.
Orla continued: "She has urged me to tell you that the service people in the facility are being really nice to her; the people who serve the food, who escort her to go get a shower, who make sure she has clean clothes. She shared she had her first shower in many days today and she felt so good. Service workers are making sure that her spirit, and the spirit for all the other women in her 'pod' are not broken.
"She said that the place is clean. It's strange that access to a shower, clean clothes is a blessing but right now it is.
"What I want you to hear is that you are making a difference and lifting not only Cliona, who has been sharing her commissary money and phone time with other women, is making a difference.
"In love and solidarity- Orla."
In an update on Wednesday, Orla wrote: "You guys, Cliona called me last night and she sounded calmer and is finding strength and solidarity in the women she is with.
"Her beautiful empathic heart is absorbing a lot of pain and a lot of compassion and love.
"Keep her in your prayers and light and please keep sharing; the lawyers will, most likely, get most of the GoFundMe. You are loved. In peace- Orla."
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54-year-old Cliona, whose green card is valid until 2033, was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on March 19.
She was returning to California from Ireland, where she had accompanied her step-mother to visit her father, who is at the end of his life.
Orla told NBC Bay Area that Cliona was detained at SFO because of her prior criminal record, which stretches from 2003 to 2008.
Orla separately told Newsweek that Cliona's prior criminal record includes six cases - two felonies for possession of drugs in December 2007 and January 2008, and four misdemeanors.
The convictions, however, had been expunged at the state level.
Orla told Newsweek that Cliona, who had struggled with addiction, has now been sober for more than 20 years.
After being held by customs for three days at SFO, Cliona was released so she could obtain documentation to prove her records had been expunged in California.
After getting the documentation, Cliona returned to SFO Customs for an 'administrative hearing' on April 21 - however, the Irish woman was again detained by customs and told she would have to argue her case in front of an immigration judge.
"I feel like I'm living in the Twilight Zone," Orla told NBC Bay Area. "She has a criminal past which she has atoned for."
A source close to the investigation told NBC Bay Area that Cliona is still under federal custody because her expungement happened at a state level, not federal.
"She did everything she was supposed to do in order to make reparations for that criminal conviction," Orla wrote when she launched the GoFundMe page last week, adding, "and has been gainfully employed, paying taxes, and building a family in Santa Cruz."
Cliona also has a son, a US citizen, who is "chronically ill who depends on her for caregiving."
Orla wrote: "She followed all of the instructions given to her by CBP for this supposed administrative meeting [on April 21], which was, in reality, an effort to take her into custody.
"Cliona is a very private and gentle person who wants nothing more than to return to her quiet life."
In an update on the GoFundMe page on April 24, Orla wrote that Cliona had been sent to an ICE detention center in Washington with a court date set for May 7.
Online records show that Cliona is now in ICE custody at Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.
The following day, Orla wrote that she was able to talk to her sister, who she said was "terrified" and "scared of getting lost in the system."
In an update on Saturday, Orla wrote that Cliona "shared that although she can't speak with the majority of the women in there because most don't speak English they have been giving each other support and there are lots of tears and hugs between the women."
The case has drawn the attention of California Representative Jimmy Panetta, who told NBC Bay Area last week that it is "unimaginable" that a 20-year-old expunged incident could be used as justification to deport Cliona, "a legal permanent resident who is a productive member of our community."
Rep Panetta said he was continuing to press US Customs and Border Protection for Cliona's release.
On Wednesday, Rep Panetta said that he recently met with Senator Mark Daly, the Cathaoirleach of the Irish Seanad Éireann, to discuss Cliona's case.
The California Democrat said that ever since Cliona's drug possession conviction 20 years ago, Cliona has "worked to expunge that conviction, successfully reapply for her legal permanent status, and has become a productive member of our community."
He added: "We will continue our push at all levels so that Ms. Ward is ensured proper due process, and that this Administration does the right thing when it comes to her release."
In Ireland, Taoiseach Micheal Martin told The Journal on Monday: "We will be pursuing it on a practical basis to make sure that those who are legitimately entitled to be in US are free from any challenges or difficulties of this kind."
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