BERKELEY, California — A 23-year-old UC Berkeley student was detained by federal immigration agents at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) on Friday, October 30, as she was about to travel out of state, and is now being held in a federal immigration detention facility in the Mojave Desert, according to her attorney and a campuswide message from the university's chancellor on Monday, November 2. The student, Paula Valentina Albornoz Hernandez, came to the United States from Colombia to study business administration at UC Berkeley, The Daily Californian, the university's student newspaper, reported.
Source: The Daily Californian
According to detention records cited by her attorney, Albornoz Hernandez is being held at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's California City Immigration Processing Center, the large detention facility in Kern County, north of Los Angeles County — roughly 300 miles (about 480 km) from the Berkeley campus. UC Berkeley Chancellor Rich Lyons told the campus in an email sent early Monday that the student was detained at the airport while she was about to travel out of state, Berkeleyside also reported, adding that the university believes this is the first ICE arrest of a UC Berkeley student since President Donald Trump returned to office.
Her attorney: 'The arrest is unconstitutional and unlawful'
Her attorney, Niko De Bremaeker of Centro Legal de la Raza, an Oakland-based legal aid organisation, confirmed the detention and said Albornoz Hernandez was detained over an overstayed visa. He said she is applying for asylum because of 'gender-based violence' she experienced in Colombia, and confirmed that she holds a work permit. 'The arrest is unconstitutional and unlawful,' De Bremaeker said. 'She has built up a life in the country. She has applied for asylum. She has a work permit. She has a right to remain in the country during these proceedings.' The attorney said Albornoz Hernandez is 'struggling' with the conditions in custody and is 'extremely distressed.' These are the attorney's characterisations of the case; ICE did not respond to The Daily Californian's request for comment as of publication.
The chancellor steps in
Chancellor Lyons has written a letter of support for Albornoz Hernandez saying he is 'deeply concerned' about her situation and that her detention may 'unnecessarily interfere' with her education, according to her attorney. In his campuswide email, Lyons confirmed that UC Berkeley has been working with the student's family and is providing legal support so she has 'access to advice and representation.' 'This student is a valued member of our community,' Lyons wrote. 'And campus leadership is doing everything within our power to support them so that they may return to their life at Berkeley to continue their studies with us.'
Berkeleyside reported that, according to the university, the detention appears to be the first ICE arrest of a UC Berkeley student since President Trump returned to office — a milestone that has sharpened attention on how the current enforcement campaign is reaching university campuses and the airports students use to travel.
The backdrop: 'Operation Safe California' and SFO's holding room
The arrest comes during 'Operation Safe California,' a 45-day immigration enforcement operation across California first reported by the Washington Examiner on October 7. The operation has driven a surge of arrests in the Central Valley and elsewhere in the state. Nor is this the first immigration arrest at SFO: the airport has an 'in-transit lounge' — described as a windowless room in the international terminal used to hold detainees — which multiple elected officials, including U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California, have visited as airport detentions have drawn scrutiny.
Why this matters beyond Berkeley
The Bay Area's universities and colleges educate thousands of international students, including many from Punjab and the rest of India, and San Francisco International is the airport most of them use. A detention that begins with a routine domestic trip — the chancellor said she was travelling out of state, not leaving the country — is the scenario immigration attorneys have been warning students about throughout the California operation: a pending asylum case and a work permit, her attorney argues, should have allowed her to remain free while her case is decided. Whether a judge agrees is now the question her case will test.
What happens next
Albornoz Hernandez remains in ICE custody at California City while her asylum application proceeds and her attorney challenges the detention itself. UC Berkeley says it will keep supporting her family and her legal representation. ICE had not publicly commented on the arrest in the reporting available Monday night, and neither the agency nor the airport has announced any change to enforcement at SFO. The Daily Californian described the case as a developing story.