An 18-year-old Venezuelan woman who worked as a custodian at Buffalo’s Highmark Stadium remains in federal custody following an unexpected arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Yusgleidy Villa Alvarez had been legally residing in the United States with special immigrant juvenile status, a designation that allowed her to pursue a green card and work authorization. In February, she was granted a work permit valid through mid-2028. However, according to a federal lawsuit filed in October, her status was abruptly revoked the same day she completed her first shift cleaning the stadium on September 19th, just hours before she was detained by ICE agents.
For more than a month, Villa Alvarez was held at the Niagara County Jail, which contracts with ICE to detain migrants before being transferred to another out-of-state facility. Her lawyers from the Erie County Bar Association’s Volunteer Lawyers Project argue her detention is unconstitutional and that immigration authorities applied a recent policy change to her case retroactively…