NASHVILLE, Tennessee: A reporter for a Spanish-language news outlet in Tennessee who claimed she was wrongly detained by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more than two weeks was released on March 19 after paying a bond.

Estefany Rodríguez Flórez, a reporter for Nashville Noticias who has done stories critical of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, had been detained by ICE on March 4 at a traffic stop, held in jail in Etowah County, Alabama, and then in the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, Louisiana.

"We are grateful that Estefany is able to walk away with her freedom to be with her family as she continues to fight for her right to remain in her community and in the US," Mike Holley, an attorney for Rodríguez, said in a statement.

Her lawyer stated that Rodríguez, a Colombian citizen, entered the U.S. legally and had been living in the country for the past five years. She has a valid work permit and applied for political asylum and legal status through her husband, who is a U.S. citizen. She had no criminal history, a steady employment record, ties to the community, and a seven-year-old daughter at home, her attorneys said.

In a court case challenging her detention, supported by the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, Rodríguez's lawyers argue she was targeted because her reporting criticized ICE under President Donald Trump. They say this violated her rights to free speech and fair legal treatment.

The government denies this, saying it had the authority to start deportation proceedings and arguing that free speech protections may not apply to someone in the country illegally.

On March 16, an immigration judge in Louisiana set a US$10,000 bond for her release.

Her lawyer, Holley, said they will continue the case to prove her detention was wrongful and to ensure ICE does not treat her the same way again.

Rodríguez had applied for asylum before her visa expired in September 2021. She stayed in the U.S. because she feared persecution in Colombia, and leaving would mean giving up her asylum case. She was allowed to work while waiting for her asylum interview, starting in February 2022.

Her lawyers also argue that her arrest was illegal because it was done without a proper warrant and without proof that she might try to escape. Government lawyers say there was a warrant, but her attorneys questioned it, saying it was handwritten, incomplete, and possibly invalid. A second, typed warrant was later created.

Her lawyer said ICE had twice postponed meetings about her case — once due to a winter storm and once because an agent could not find her appointment. A new meeting was set for March 17.

According to her news outlet, Rodríguez was in a marked Nashville Noticias vehicle with her husband when several vehicles surrounded them, and she was taken into custody.

Her attorney, Joel Coxander, said it took more than 10 days before she was allowed to speak with him.

Several press organizations, including the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed a legal brief warning that arresting non-citizen journalists could discourage reporting. They said such actions could silence current reporting and make other journalists afraid to cover sensitive topics.

After her arrest, Rodríguez was taken to a county jail in Etowah, Alabama. She spent a day there before being returned to jail after an officer asked if she had lice. She was then kept in isolation for about five days and forced to shower while a chemical liquid was poured on her head, which burned her eyes, according to the filing.