Louisville woman in ICE custody after attending scheduled immigration interview

A 21-year-old Louisville woman was detained by federal immigration officials when she attended an interview last week for her marriage-based immigration application to get a green card. 

Armelle Bondonga came to the U.S. on a visitor visa when she was about eight years old, said her attorney Arianit Osmani. She and her husband, a U.S. citizen, have an 19-month-old child. 

Bondonga and her husband “were attempting to follow the legal process available to them and resolve her immigration status lawfully,” Osmani said in an email to the Lantern. She was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

“One of the most concerning aspects of this situation is that Armelle was not hiding from immigration authorities or attempting to evade the immigration system,” Osmani added. “Quite the opposite: she voluntarily appeared before the government for an immigration interview as part of the process she and her husband were pursuing.”

Bondonga’s husband, Terrance Bradshaw, said in a statement that the interview “was seemingly going smoothly” before they “quickly took a turn for the worse — becoming a living nightmare for our family.” ICE agents put the couple in separate rooms and he was told about Bondonga’s detainment.

“I felt completely powerless kissing my wife goodbye, not knowing when I would see her next,” Bradshaw said. “Wheeling our son out of that building in his stroller without his mom is a feeling no human should ever have to endure. We left feeling trapped, betrayed, lost, and uncertain of what lies ahead for our family.”

Bondonga came to the U.S. with her family from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since moving to Louisville in 2020, she has been active in her community with organizations like Future Ancestors and Empower Youth. 

“Her immigration history is complicated because, as a child, she was included as a derivative family member in asylum proceedings initiated by her father,” Osmani said. “There are ongoing legal proceedings concerning that matter, which are being handled by separate immigration counsel.”

A spokesperson for ICE said in a statement Bondonga entered the country in 2013 on a visa that was set to expire the following year.

“She overstayed her welcome in violation of our nation’s immigration laws, and under the Obama administration began accruing more than a decade’s worth of unlawful presence in the United States,” the spokesperson said. “On November 6, 2025, she was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge. She received due process.”

The ICE spokesperson also said being “in detention is a choice” and added that the U.S. is “offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now.”

“We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream,” the spokesperson said. “If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”

Bondonga is being held in the Clark County Jail in Indiana, according to online records. Osmani said the immediate legal priority is “to prevent Armelle from being removed from the United States before the significant legal issues in her case can be meaningfully addressed.” 

“We are pursuing the legal remedies available to her, including seeking an administrative stay of removal through ICE. A stay asks ICE not to execute her removal while the pending legal matters are being addressed. We are also communicating with ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations regarding her custody and removal situation and evaluating the other legal remedies available to her,” Osmani said. He added that Bondonga’s husband has also filed a petition to ask the federal government to recognize their marriage for immigration purposes. 

Ryan Davis, a former teacher of Bondonga, said Monday evening that he had spoken to her since she has been detained by ICE. Since graduating from a Louisville high school, Bondonga has continued to help students with community groups and they’ve since kept in touch, Davis said.

“The idea of being separated from your family, especially separated from such a young child — I don’t even know the words to put in the amount of pain that someone must feel, or the amount of difficulty that must be to go through that separation,” Davis said. “And at the same time, Armelle is one of the most unbelievably strong people I have ever met.”

Earlier this month, another Louisville woman, Sarafinah Bukirwa, was released from ICE custody after being detained at the airport on her way to a conference on sickle cell anemia, a disease which she also has. Her family and Democratic U.S. Rep. Morgan McGarvey said she was not receiving adequate medical care for sickle cell anemia.