Wife of Baton Rouge veteran avoids deportation

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — The wife of a Baton Rouge veteran will not be deported after a judge granted a motion to reopen her case and an emergency stay of removal. The case will move to Jena.

Paola Clouatre, 25, has been in the Richwood Correctional Center for nearly three months. She will remain there until a bond is set and paid if Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) releases her on recognizance, her husband, Adrian Clouatre, confirmed to Louisiana First Investigates.

“Hoping next week we can get the bond request in,” Adrian said.

Paola was initially arrested by ICE at the New Orleans headquarters, where the couple went to clear up a deportation order discovered online. Adrian said agents arrested his wife after they were told to sit in the lobby following what appeared to be successful interview sessions.

“She started crying and told me to take care of the kids,” Adrian said.

Paola had come with her mother to the United States from Mexico when she was a child, but she never knew her estranged mother had missed an immigration hearing that would lead to her daughter being issued a deportation order in 2018.

Louisiana First Investigates reached out to ICE for a comment following the new information, but has not heard back by publication. A spokesperson provided a lengthy statement earlier this month.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations arrested and detained Lisette Paula Rosas-Campos, 25, a citizen of Mexico. She was ordered removed to Mexico in absentia by an immigration judge with the Executive Office for Immigration Review in Los Angeles, California and has a final order of removal from Feb. 12, 2018. Rosas-Campos has filed a motion with EOIR in her case concerning the order of removal issued in 2018. She will remain in ICE custody pending a resolution of her motions. As to detention conditions: Any accusations that a detainee is treated inhumanely in any way are categorically false. ICE is committed to ensuring that all those in the agency’s custody reside in safe, secure, and humane environments under appropriate conditions of confinement. In general, ICE continues to review immigration detention centers nationally, monitoring the quality of life and treatment of detained individuals, including other factors relevant to the continued operation of each facility.”
ICE

Adrian is a Marine veteran, and the case revealed reported changes to how authorities treat situations involving military members. An immigration attorney confirmed former protections had been stripped under the new federal administration.

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