UPDATED: A young Norwegian woman who entered the US on a student visa in 2022 was called in last week by US immigration officials for what she and her American husband thought was an interview to formalize her permanent residency. Instead she was arrested by US President Donald Trump’s controversial Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and placed in a detention center.
Her husband claimed she was all but “trapped” during the interview session they were having with immigration officials in San Diego, California. Norwegian diplomats working at the foreign ministry in Oslo were quickly made aware of the Norwegian citizen’s arrest, confirmed Norwegian media. Officials at Norway’s consulate in San Francisco tried to help her but couldn’t go into detail for privacy reasons.
On Tuesday night, reported state broadcaster NRK, the 24-year-old Hanne Bredal Engan from Bodø was released on bail after six days in what she called “isolation” at the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego. “It was awful, and a nightmare,” she told NRK, which flew its US correspondent to San Diego to cover the story.
She was released only after her husband and friends pooled resources to pay the roughly NOK 15,000 (USD 1500) needed to post bail until her court hearing comes up in January. The US authorities still put a foot link on her, to confine her movements to the San Diego area.
The case has grabbed media attention in California, as another example of the Trump Administration’s crackdown on immigrants and illegal aliens in the US. They noted that her student visa had expired, and when she acknowledged that, she was arrested even though she’s now eligible for permanent residency because of her marriage. She’s originally from Bodø in Northern Norway and now views her future in the US as uncertain.
“I can’t leave my husband,” Engan told NRK, “but I don’t know if I want to be in a country that has treated me like this.” Others have claimed she’s lucky she could post bail and be released at a time when many others from Australia to the UK haven’t been, and remain in custody because they can’t afford bail or lawyers.
Violation of immigration law, which has been stiffened since Trump took office, can result in deportation and being barred from re-entry to the US for at least three years. NRK has sought comment from the US Embassy in Oslo but its officials referred her case to ICE officials. ICE declined comment.
NewsinEnglish.no staff
