ICE Arrest of Woman From Hong Kong Rocks Small Missouri Town That Went for Trump

The arrest of an immigrant woman originally from Hong Kong by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has sent shockwaves through a small Missouri town that overwhelmingly backed U.S. President Donald Trump in the last presidential election.

Trump has made a crackdown on immigration a centerpiece of his administration.

The woman, whose legal name is Ming Li Hui, spoke on a Monday episode of The New Republic's "The Daily Blast" podcast from jail in Springfield, Missouri, and told listeners that she wants to stay in the United States with her children.

"Please protect me. I'm so sorry. I have a poor English. I don't know. I just want to [be with] my family with my children, stay here in the U.S. for freedom and have [a] better life," she said, according to a transcript of the episode.

Hui has lived in Kennett, Missouri for 20 years, where she works at a local pancake and waffle house and has raised a family. She has three children, including one 14-year-old autistic son.

Hui, who goes by Carol, was arrested by ICE officers in April when she traveled from her home in Kennett, Missouri to St. Louis, Missouri for an appointment at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services that she expected would just be to renew her employment authorization document, according to St. Louis Public Radio. The news of her detention was first reported by the Delta Dunklin Democrat in early May.

According to a subsequent New York Times story, she was summoned abruptly to the appointment, and her partner voiced suspicion about the appointment. But "I didn't want to run," Hui told the paper from jail following her arrest. "I just wanted to do the right thing."

Eighty percent of voters in Dunklin County, Missouri—where Kennett is located—cast a ballot for Trump in the last presidential election.

"I voted for Donald Trump, and so did practically everyone here," said Vanessa Cowart, a church friend of Hui's, according to The Times. "But no one voted to deport moms. We were all under the impression we were just getting rid of the gangs, the people who came here in droves."

Others, though not all, in Kennett expressed outrage that Hui was detained by ICE and is now in jail, per the Times. Her church organized a prayer vigil for her and has sent meals to her family, and her bosses held a fundraiser for her which they called "Carol Day."

"In Kennett, some residents said they had implored state and national Republican lawmakers representing the area to intervene to stop Ms. Hui's deportation, but had gotten mostly cursory responses," the Times reported.

Hui's lawyer, Raymond Bolourtchi, who also spoke on TNR's podcast, has filed an emergency request that her deportation to Hong Kong be stayed and a request to re-open her closed immigration case.

Bolourtchi told TNR that Hui came to the U.S. in 2004 and then "ultimately ended up in removal proceedings, or in deportation proceedings, because she overstayed her visa and the government made certain allegations that were really negative based on her original marriage."

Hui paid an American citizen $2,000 to enter a fake marriage that she hoped would grant her permanent resident status, per the Times, a decision she has said she regrets, according to her lawyer. That marriage ended in divorce in 2009.

After ending up in removal proceedings, Hui presented an application for asylum to an immigration court, which was denied, according to Bolourtchi. Her appeal went all the way up to the U.S. Court of Appeals, where it was dismissed. With those appeals exhausted, she was placed in an "order of supervision," per her lawyer. It was under an order of supervision that she was granted an employment authorization.