Medical worker, 32, who has been in US since she was four is arrested at now-notorious airport while trying to fly home from Noah Kahan concert

By NATASHA ANDERSON, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER Published: 21:11, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 21:11, 17 July 2026 A medical worker who came to America when she was four years old was arrested by immigration officers as she tried to fly home from a Noah Kahan concert. Maria Rosales, 32, flew from Miami to Boston with some friends last week to see the folk-pop singer perform during his residency at Fenway Park. When she tried to return to Florida last Friday, Rosales was detained by ICE officers at Logan International Airport, her attorney Todd Pomerleau told WCVB. She was taken to the ICE detention center in Burlington, Massachusetts, which lawyers have previously described as having 'abysmal' and 'unsanitary' conditions. 'She's been there since Saturday. She's allowed hardly any phone calls, she's not allowed visits. It's ridiculous,' Pomerleau said earlier today. Rosales was born in Colombia, but brought to the United States as an undocumented immigrant at the age of four. She was provided protection from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. DACA gave hundreds of thousands of people who came to the US illegally as children two-year, renewable permits to live and work.  ICE told the Daily Mail that Rosales was arrested for overstaying her visa and staying in the US for eight years after a judge ordered that she be removed. Maria Rosales, 32, was detained by ICE at Boston Logan International Airport on July 10 Rosales was born in Colombia, but brought to the United States as an undocumented immigrant at the age of four 'Maria Rosales, an illegal alien from Colombia, entered the United States on September 7, 1998, under a visitor visa that allowed her to stay in the country until March 6, 1999,' an ICE spokesperson said. 'Rosales was ordered removed by an immigration judge on June 28, 2017. She has illegally overstayed her visa and remained in the country for over eight years since being ordered removed.'  Pomerleau confirmed there was a removal order calling for his client's arrest, which he believes stems from a 2017 immigration court hearing. Rosales was briefly detained that year while travelling in New Mexico and was given notice to appear in court, Pomerleau told the outlet. But he claims Rosales was not given a hearing date, time or place. She also allegedly received DACA status that very year. 'She thought her case was taken care of because she was released from custody back there, and she had her application pending, and then DACA was approved,' he added.  The 32-year-old has lived in the US for nearly her entire life. She has held work permits and was issued a Social Security number.  Her lawyer said at the time of her arrest, she was employed at a dermatology office that specialized in treating people with skin cancer.  She flew from Miami to Boston with some friends last week to see folk-pop singer Noah Kahan perform at Fenway Park Rosales, seen with her friends, works with a dermatologist who treats people with skin cancer A federal judge has stopped Rosales' deportation, Pomerleau told WBTS. The judge will set a court date in the coming weeks. It is unclear if or when Rosales will be released from the Burlington detention center, which also serves as ICE's New England Regional Headquarters. The facility made headlines last year after affidavits filed in federal court alleged that detainees were being held in 'inhumane' conditions.  Several immigration lawyers cited that their clients were left hungry, cold and terrified, according to the court filings reviewed by WBUR.  Detainees slept on concrete floors, did not have proper access to showers and were not able to wash their hands after using the toilet, the lawyers alleged. Pomerleau suggested that the Boston airport has become a hotspot for ICE arrests. He claimed Rosales' case is the fifteenth he has death with in the past year in which a client was 'ambushed' at Logan Airport. He said another one of his clients, 33-year-old David Ardila, was also arrested at the airport last Friday, around the same time as Rosales. Ardila had traveled to Boston to attend a World Cup match and was detained while trying to return home to Seattle. He is being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.  She is currently being held at the ICE detention center in Burlington, Massachusetts, which lawyers have previously described as having 'abysmal' and 'unsanitary' conditions Daniel Ardila, 33, was also arrested by ICE at Logan Airport on Friday, around the same time that Rosales was taken into custody 'Neither person has a criminal record. They were both traveling for leisure, coming here a week after the 250th anniversary of our country, and now they're both sitting in prison cells,' Pomerleau told WBTS. The lawyer further accused ICE of using 'people flying on domestic flights, basically, as a dragnet to try to arrest people.' According to ICE, Ardila came to the US illegally from Venezuela in May 2017 on a visa that allowed him to be in the country until November that year. 'He overstayed his visa and remained in the United States illegally for over eight years in violation of the terms of his lawful admission,' an ICE spokesperson said, adding that the agency encourages all illegal aliens to leave on their own accord.  'Being in detention is a choice,' ICE said. 'The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now.  'We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the US the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.' The Daily Mail has approached Pomerleau for comment.