Cliona Ward

Synopsis

Cliona Ward, 54, is a Santa Cruz County resident and lawful permanent resident who moved from Ireland to the United States at age 12 and has lived in California for more than three decades, according to reporting by NBC Bay Area, KTVU, the Santa Cruz Sentinel (via Assemblymember Gail Pellerin's office), and SFGATE. Her family says she struggled with addiction more than 20 years ago, completed rehabilitation, and has been sober for decades since. She works at a local Christian nonprofit, is a member of SEIU Local 2015, and serves as an in-home caretaker for her chronically ill U.S.-citizen son. In late March 2025, Ward was returning from Ireland, where she had visited her ailing father, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection questioned her over drug possession convictions from 2007 and 2008. NBC Bay Area reported that CBP initially detained her at San Francisco International Airport, briefly released her to obtain documentation showing the California convictions had been expunged, and then took her back into custody on April 21 when she returned to present that paperwork. She was transferred to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, where she remained from April 24 until her release on May 7, 2025 — roughly 17 days in federal custody, according to her Santa Cruz attorney Michael Mehr. Ward's legal team — including Mehr in Santa Cruz and Erin Hall of Global Justice Law Group in Seattle — argued that Ward had not received adequate advice about the immigration consequences of her prior convictions. The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported that a Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge, with support from the District Attorney's Office, granted Ward post-conviction relief shortly before her May 7 hearing. Mehr told the Sentinel that this rendered the federal government's case moot because the convictions were vacated on due-process grounds. On May 7, 2025, a federal immigration judge terminated Ward's removal proceedings. KTVU reported that the judge dismissed her immigration case; her sister Orla Holladay said Ward walked out of the Seattle courthouse around 10:30 a.m. SFGATE reported that Ward returned home to Santa Cruz the same day. Holladay described Ward as traumatized, grateful, and afraid to be alone after release, and said she would need help processing the experience. Rep. Jimmy Panetta, Assemblymembers Gail Pellerin and Dawn Addis, SEIU organizers, and community groups rallied in Santa Cruz and Tacoma in support of Ward's release. Panetta said her case showed the importance of due process and criticized overbroad deportation policies that swept up a rehabilitated green card holder who had repeatedly been approved for permanent residency. ICE and CBP did not comment publicly on her release in the cited reporting. TIMELINE Late March 2025 — Ward detained briefly at SFO upon return from Ireland; CBP releases her to obtain expungement documentation (NBC Bay Area, Pellerin/Sentinel). April 21, 2025 — Ward taken into CBP custody at SFO after returning to present expungement records (Pellerin/Sentinel, KTVU, SFGATE). April 24, 2025 — Ward transferred to Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington (Pellerin/Sentinel). Early May 2025 — Santa Cruz County Superior Court grants post-conviction relief with DA support, vacating decades-old convictions (Pellerin/Sentinel). May 7, 2025 — Federal immigration judge terminates removal proceedings; Ward released from Tacoma detention and returns to Santa Cruz (KTVU, Pellerin/Sentinel, SFGATE). This profile summarizes published reporting; legal status may change.

Key takeaways

From court records, news reporting, and linked sources below.

  1. Ward is a 54-year-old lawful permanent resident who has lived in Santa Cruz for more than 30 years and works as a caregiver and SEIU member, according to multiple news reports.
  2. CBP detained her at SFO on April 21, 2025 over 2007–2008 drug convictions that had been expunged in California after she returned from visiting her father in Ireland.
  3. She was held about 17 days at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma before a May 7, 2025 hearing.
  4. A Santa Cruz County judge granted post-conviction relief with DA support; a federal judge then terminated her immigration case and ordered her release.
  5. Ward returned home to Santa Cruz on May 7; her family and Rep. Jimmy Panetta described the case as a due-process victory amid broader deportation enforcement concerns.

Reference links

Related

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