ICE detained green-card holder Venkata Vasamsetty months after her removal case was dismissed

On Aug. 11, 2026, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained Venkata Vasamsetty, a lawful permanent resident, at a previously scheduled check-in at ICE's field office in Charlotte, North Carolina. Vasamsetty, who has held a green card since 2013 and lived in the United States more than 27 years, is a Wake County Public School System teacher who works with special-needs children, a homeowner, and has no criminal record. ICE transferred her to the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia.

The detention came nearly three months after an immigration judge dismissed the government's removal case against her. Vasamsetty traveled to India in July 2022 to care for her ailing parents, was hospitalized for nearly two weeks after contracting COVID-19, and did not return to the United States until February 2023 -- an absence of about seven months. The Department of Homeland Security alleged that the extended absence showed she had abandoned her permanent residency and placed her in removal proceedings, but DHS missed a court-imposed deadline to submit supporting evidence, and the immigration judge dismissed the case on May 19, 2026.

Despite the dismissal, Vasamsetty remained subject to periodic ICE check-ins. At a July 11, 2026 check-in at the Charlotte office, she presented a copy of the dismissal order; her attorney, Helen Parsonage, said ICE officials responded that their records had not yet been updated and told her to return the following month. When she returned on Aug. 11, she was taken into custody. Parsonage's office filed an emergency petition for a writ of habeas corpus the next day in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Vasamsetty v. Warden of Irwin County Detention Center, No. 7:26-cv-00228), challenging the legal basis for her continued detention.

Updates

2026-08-13 — Federal judge ordered ICE to justify the detention within three days

A federal judge in the habeas case ordered immigration authorities to explain, within three days, the legal basis for Vasamsetty's continued detention. [2]

2026-08-16 — Government conceded Vasamsetty likely entitled to a bond hearing

In a court filing, the government acknowledged that under recent precedent from the same federal court (B.A.M.A. v. Warden), Vasamsetty would likely be considered detained pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1226(a) and entitled to a bond hearing before an immigration judge, and asked the court to order one within seven days; the filing did not concede the detention was unlawful or order her release. [3]