Vilma Palacios, 22, tells local outlet ‘I want my freedom back’ as she may be forced to return to Honduras
A recent graduate of the LSU Health New Orleans School of Nursing has been held in an ICE processing center in Basile, Louisiana, for the past six months following her arrest by immigration agents over the summer.
Vilma Palacios had just recently accepted a position at Touro Infirmary when ICE agents arrested her and transferred her to the processing center in Basile. Her detention comes amid a broader immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, including cases involving individuals with no criminal records who are seeking legal residency.
Palacios, 22, told Nola.com that she was denied release on bond and may be forced to voluntarily return to Honduras, the country she left with her parents at age six, while continuing to wait for a decision on her immigration case.
“The only thing now that I want is my freedom back,” Palacios told the outlet. “I don’t want to be enclosed in a space where everything is controlled. I have no power to do anything. I feel hopeless all the time. And nothing is moving to help me.”
