Cliona Ward, the Irish woman with a valid green card who landed in ICE custody after a visit home to Ireland, is set to be released following a court appearance on Wednesday, May 7.
"I’m proud to share that Cliona Ward, a 30-year legal permanent resident of Santa Cruz County, will be released after being detained and threatened with deportation," California Representative Jimmy Panetta, who had been calling for the Irish woman's release, said on Wednesday afternoon.
"We fought for Cliona from the top down and bottom up. I pressed officials from the White House to the Irish government, worked with her legal team, and stood with her family and community.
"Her release shows what’s possible when we come together for transparency, due process, and justice."
Panetta said Cliona's case is "an example of this Administration doing the wrong thing when it comes to its overreaching deportation policies that can sweep up people like Cliona."
I’m proud to share that Cliona Ward, a 30-year legal permanent resident of Santa Cruz County, will be released after being detained and threatened with deportation. We fought for Cliona from the top down and bottom up. I pressed officials from the White House to the Irish… pic.twitter.com/LRqUadWGdy
— Rep. Jimmy Panetta (@RepJimmyPanetta) May 7, 2025
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.
Cliona's sister Orla Holladay - who launched a GoFundMe for Cliona's legal fees - told NBC Bay Area that Cliona had been detained 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.
Cliona was then sent to an ICE detention facility, the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington.
While Rep Panetta rallied for Cliona's release, so too did the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), of which Cliona is a member.
On Wednesday, Cliona's Washington state-based attorney Erin Hall told RTÉ's Prime Time that an application was made in California on Friday for the original convictions to be formally vacated in a manner that would be recognized at a federal level.
A California judge agreed to the application, which allowed Hall to subsequently file a motion to terminate the immigration proceedings.
On Wednesday, a judge at the Tacoma Immigration Court signed an order ending the removal proceedings against Cliona.
Cliona's sister Tracey Ward told RTÉ's Prime Time on Wednesday that the development is a "huge, huge relief."
"I was trying to maintain hope today but I know how the system works over there so I was very fearful for her. I'm just completely relieved," she said.
"The outpouring of love worldwide that we've received has been absolutely unbelievable."
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