‘Come back’: Woman sent to GA detention center after being taken into custody at immigration hearing

CHARLOTTE — A woman was taken into custody during her immigration court hearing in Charlotte. Now, she is in a detention center in Georgia.

Alejandra Perez was taken from her immigration hearing in mid-August.

Her husband, Frank Benitez, told Channel 9’s Hunter Sáenz that he received the tearful call from Perez after she was taken away by ICE agents.

“First thing I heard was my wife crying, ‘Frank, I got arrested,’” Benitez said.

He said he sped there and asked why his wife was in custody.

“That was the hard part,” Benetiz said. “She said your wife didn’t do anything wrong. It was a random pickup.”

Now, Perez has been in a Georgia detention center for weeks. And Benitez said seeing his wife in jail was heartbreaking.

“It was the worst two minutes of my life,” he said. “When I saw her with that uniform, and I saw her behind the glass. The First thing she said was ‘I love you.’ And we put the heart like that, and I said, ‘I won’t leave you.’”

Benitez is a U.S. citizen and had immigrated more than a decade ago.

He said that Perez had come to the U.S., fleeing persecution from the Venezuelan government, for which she had worked.

He told Sáenz that he and his attorneys are fighting for his wife’s freedom.

Benitez showed Sáenz all the documentation from Perez’s four-year process she has been following for asylum.

He said she had done everything by the rules and just doesn’t understand.

“We pay taxes, we have a beautiful family, she has a great job, makes great money, no criminal record,” Benitez said.

He also read a letter to Sáenz that his son had written to his mother. The letter to Perez said, “Please come back.”

Now, Benitez said he is speaking out to warn all immigrants.

“They don’t need a reason to put you in jail,” he said. “Immigration can just come and get you. My wife is the best example.”

Sáenz reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment on the arrest. He is still waiting for a response.

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