Iliana Lick left ICE custody after a US$10,000 bond was paid, ending nearly a month of detention after her arrest in July. Her release followed fundraising by her family and partner, after she was stopped while traveling from Philadelphia International Airport to Kansas City.
Steven Melchiorre said the effort brought in over $18,000 from more than 220 donations. He described Lick’s month in custody as involving “countless phone calls, legal procedures, and several transfers between different states.”
Steven Melchiorre on Tuesday
Melchiorre said Lick had entered the United States in 2023 on a tourist visa that later expired, and that she was living in Pennsylvania when she was detained. He said she had begun changing her immigration status and seeking a work permit when Immigration and Customs Enforcement took her into custody.
That sequence explains why the bond payment mattered. Under the process described by the Department of Homeland Security, a pending application or work authorization does not give legal status in the United States, so release on bond changes custody but does not end the immigration case.
Department of Homeland Security
The Department of Homeland Security said Lick’s release does not mean the case has been resolved. Melchiorre echoed that point on Tuesday, saying, “This is not the end of Iliana’s immigration case, but tonight we are celebrating an important milestone.”
For Lick, the immediate change is physical freedom after a month in custody. The case itself remains open, and the next step will depend on the immigration process already underway.
