When Paola Croatre arrived at the house, her young son Noah glanced over to her side. He covered his face, turned around and turned again. “It was as if he couldn’t believe that he was me,” says Kuratre. She recalls the moment she reunited with her family.
The first thing she did when Noah recognized her was holding him. “I told him: “It’s mom. Mom will be home with you again.”
“I couldn’t believe I was home again, it was like a shock,” Croitre says from her home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to CNN, who says she is rocking Lynn and running around a room where Noah runs around the paper. Next to her is her husband Adrian, a Marine veteran who fought tirelessly for her release.
Born in Mexico, Croatre came to the United States in 2014 with his mother. She was 14 years old. She quickly lost contact with her and spent her teenage years in a homeless shelter. In 2022 she met Adrian. Soon after that they had Noah. In February 2024 they got married and later Little Lynn was born.
On May 27, the couple coordinated their status interviews and wanted Clouatre to proceed with the process of obtaining her permanent residence or green card. Just a week ago, they had not attended the hearing where the mother was notified, and since the young woman never knew, they learned that she had an expelling order.
Croatre was detained on the spot and moved from his home for four hours to a country detention center at Ice in Monroe.
Croatre says she never imagined that she would be taken into custody. She spent several days in shock and tried to deal with what was going on. She didn’t even have time to say goodbye to her children.
“It was very difficult. I miss my family, my children, my husband. I had a lot of anxiety and depression,” she recalls. “Sometimes I didn’t eat, and at other times I ate too much out of anxiety. I cried a lot.”
But what hurts most for her was a visit from her children. Her husband made long trips to detention centres as often as possible, allowing Croatre to see the children and continue breastfeeding the baby. He also managed to get her a breast milk pump to prevent her milk supply from drying out.
“When he brought me the kids, I hugged my little girl and breastfed it, but it was for a while. When the visit was over, I had to say goodbye. My son grabbed my hand and didn’t walk with me. He didn’t cry when he took him away.
On several occasions, she was said to have told her she could board a plane and was deported at any time.
“And then, “And if I go to Mexico, where would I go? Who would I go with? I don’t talk to my family. I didn’t know how I would survive. I was always worried. My husband and I always talked about it.
Her husband told CNN in a previous interview that while she was still in custody, deportation was an unthinkable scenario for them as his wife was no longer involved in Mexico.
“They mixed us all together. People with no criminal history and people with criminal history,” she says. “There were about 105 women in my dorm,” she recalls the routine being strict and the tension was constant.
CNN asked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) about the conditions of detention mentioned by Clouatre, but received no response regarding this particular point.
However, when raised with other questions from immigrants and human rights groups regarding ice detention centres, the DHS responded that “all detainees have the opportunity to receive appropriate food, treatment and communicate with their families and lawyers,” and that “Ensuring the safety and well-being of our custody people is an absolute priority for ice.”
Freedom and hope for the future
A week ago, after her husband and lawyer Carrie Holiday tried every step of the way to secure the release of Kluatl, she was finally able to leave the detention center and reunite with her family.
Her husband told CNN that the judge had suspended the deportation order. Senator John Kennedy’s office then filed a request with DHS for the woman to be released, the Associated Press reported.
Asked by CNN, DHS said, “Members of Congress will not affect anyone in the immigration process ice arrest, detention, or subjects will not affect who… DHS will enforce the law.”
“Lisette Paola Rosas Campos (Croatre) filed a motion to resume immigration lawsuits on May 27, 2025, demanding a stay for emergency deportation from immigration judges. The immigration judge granted the motion and she was released from ice custody while her immigration process continues,” the DHS statement said.
Clouatre currently needs to wear an electronic ankle monitor and officially report every two weeks, as one of the conditions for her release.
What’s next? “We’re trying to get our lives back. We’re looking for an apartment in Louisiana. We want to establish a normal life,” her husband says.
“We understand that the law must be enforced, but humanity must also exist. There are people waiting for their residence. They are not criminals. They have children. They should not be treated like criminals,” says the Marine.
Clouatre’s legal process could last several years before it was officially closed, but she was finally able to get her green card, said Holliday, the couple’s lawyer cited by the Associated Press.
Croatre says she doesn’t consider her detention fair. “I felt sick, as if I had done something wrong. I felt guilty even if I hadn’t done anything wrong,” she explains.
But now, speaking to CNN, she says she’s happy to be back with her loved one. And the kids look just as happy. Noah stops running and sits with his mother. He looks up, turns his face to the screen and says “Mama.”
