Attorneys for the journalist, Estefany Maria Rodriguez Flores, wrote in the petition filed March 4 that she was arrested without a warrant. Rodriguez said she was not shown one, according to her petition. One of her attorneys, Joel Coxander of Mira Legal, spoke with an ICE agent who indicated there was no arrest warrant for her at the time of her arrest, the petition states.
The Department of Homeland Security said on March 6 that this is "simply not true" and that it had a valid arrest warrant on Rodriguez. It filed in court March 6 a picture of a crumpled piece of paper dated March 2 titled "Warrant for Arrest of Alien." The paper, which appears to have been signed by an authorized immigration officer, orders the arrest of Rodriguez for removal proceedings.
She is currently detained in the Etowah County Jail in northeast Alabama, according to DHS' court filing.
Rodriguez had a meeting scheduled for March 17 with ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations. She frequently reported on stories critical of ICE for Nashville Noticias, the Spanish-language outlet.
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