After months in ICE custody, Maryland mother returns home – WTOP News

After months spent in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, a Hagerstown, Maryland, mother is finally home and reunited with her family.

A Facebook page called “Bring Melissa Home” provides updates on Melissa Tran’s case. A recent post read, “Melissa extends her thanks to everyone who has played a role in keeping her story alive and getting her home.”

Tran, a Vietnamese refugee, owns the popular Nail Palace & Spa in Hagerstown, and her family said the community has rallied around them.

“We (are) so, so happy she’s home,” her husband Danny Hoang told WTOP.

He said his wife is tired but enjoying “quiet time” at home with their four children.

“I’m feeling good,” he said. “We (are) so excited and so happy.”

In May, Tran, 43, was taken into ICE custody in Baltimore during a regular check-in and was told she would be deported to Vietnam due to a deportation order from a criminal conviction when she was 20 for stealing from her employer. Tran served time in jail and paid full restitution.

Since May, she’s been moved from Baltimore to Louisiana, then Arizona, and finally a facility in Washington state. Throughout the ordeal, she’s received an outpouring of support from friends, family and clients.

JoAnn Bolton has been coming to the nail salon for a long time and said Tran is “always smiling, very friendly, just a wonderful person.”

The community shared Tran’s story on social media, raised money for Tran’s family and wrote letters to President Donald Trump’s administration. Over the weekend, they finally got the update they’d been hoping for – a federal judge ordered Tran’s release.

“Everybody’s just so overwhelmed that everything turned out the way it did, and we’re just happy to have her back,” Bolton said. “I’m so happy for her and her family. … We’ve been praying for her and it’s just a blessing that she’s home with us.”

Her legal battle continues in immigration court, as her attorneys try to overturn the final deportation order.

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