Marine Vet's Wife Freed After Senator's Intervention

A Marine Corps Veteran's Wife Released from ICE Detention

A Marine Corps veteran’s wife, Paola Clouatre, has been released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention after a significant effort by Senator John Kennedy, a Louisiana Republican known for supporting President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policies. Until this week, Clouatre had been among the tens of thousands of individuals in ICE custody as the Trump administration pushed for the arrest of 3,000 people daily who are suspected of being in the country illegally.

According to emails reviewed by The Associated Press, Kennedy’s office submitted a request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for her release following a judge halting her deportation order earlier in the week. By Monday, she was out of a remote ICE detention center in northern Louisiana and back home in Baton Rouge with her husband, Adrian Clouatre, and their two young children.

Clouatre, a Mexican national, married to a Marine Corps veteran, had faced years of legal challenges. Her case highlights the complex nature of immigration enforcement and the personal impact on families. According to her attorney, Carey Holliday, Kennedy’s office played a crucial role in engaging with DHS to secure her release.

Christy Tate, Kennedy’s constituent services representative, expressed her happiness for the family and thanked Adrian Clouatre for his military service. “I am so happy for you and your family,” Tate wrote in an email. “God is truly great!”

Another Louisiana Republican, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, also recently intervened to help secure the release of an Iranian mother from ICE detention after public outcry. This woman has lived in New Orleans for decades.

Kennedy has generally supported Trump’s hardline stance on immigration. He once posted on Facebook: “Illegal immigration is illegal - duh.” However, he has also criticized the Trump administration for making mistakes, such as deporting a Maryland man.

The Department of Homeland Security previously considered Clouatre to be in the country illegally. An email chain shared by Adrian Clouatre shows that the family’s attorney reached out to Kennedy’s office in early June after Paola Clouatre was detained in late May.

Tate received Clouatre’s court documents by early July and contacted ICE, according to the email exchange. On July 23, an immigration judge halted Clouatre’s deportation order. After Adrian Clouatre notified Kennedy’s office, Tate said she sent the request to release Paola Clouatre to DHS and shared a copy of the judge’s motion with the agency, as shown in the emails.

In an email several days later, Tate noted that ICE stated it continues to make custody decisions on a case-by-case basis based on each individual’s circumstances and had received the judge’s decision from Kennedy’s office for consideration. The next working day, Clouatre was released from custody.

“We will continue to keep you, your family and others that are experiencing the same issues in our prayers,” Tate said in an email to Adrian Clouatre. “If you need our assistance in the future, please contact us.”

Reunited with Her Children

Paola Clouatre had been detained by ICE officers on May 27 during an appointment related to her green card application. She entered the country as a minor with her mother from Mexico more than a decade ago and was legally processed while seeking asylum, according to her, her husband, and her attorney. However, her mother failed to show up for a court date, leading a judge to issue a deportation order against Clouatre in 2018, although she had already become estranged from her mother and was homeless at the time.

Adrian Clouatre expressed hope that the agency would consider the circumstances before detaining people like his wife. “It shouldn’t just be like a blanket ‘Oh, they're illegal, throw them in ICE detention.’”

Reunited with her breastfeeding infant daughter and able to snuggle with her toddler son, Clouatre told AP that she feels like a mother again. “I was feeling bad,” she said of detention. “I was feeling like I failed my kids.”

It is expected to take several years for Clouatre’s immigration court proceedings to be formally closed, but her attorney says things look promising, and she should eventually obtain her green card. For now, she is wearing an ankle monitor, but still able to pick up life where she left off, her husband says. The day of her arrest in New Orleans, the couple had planned to sample some of the city’s famed French pastries known as beignets, and her husband says they’ll finally get that chance again: “We're going to make that day up.”