Monica Ryadi was planning a trip to Disneyland with her husband and their 3-year-old son. On September 15, 2026, that trip came to an end at Los Angeles International Airport. Plainclothes officers from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested the 30-year-old nurse. Her little boy had to watch as his mother was put in handcuffs. Both her husband and son are U.S. citizens. Ryadi works at Riddle Hospital, part of the Main Line Health system in Pennsylvania. A family vacation turned into a deportation case, and a child had to watch his mother being taken away right in front of him.
When she was 9 years old, Ryadi fled religious persecution in Indonesia with her family. They entered the United States legally. In 2010, an immigration judge granted her protection from deportation. That decision still protects her. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, however, points to a final deportation order. A woman who has lived in America since childhood and cares for people as a nurse is suddenly facing removal from the country. Apparently, Indonesia did not even have to be the destination.
Ryadi spent about 2 weeks at the Adelanto ICE detention facility in California. It took nearly 3 days just to find her there. She was told that deportation to a third country was a possibility. It wasn't until September 29 that federal Judge Steve Kim of the United States District Court for the Central District of California ordered her immediate release under government supervision. The case, "Monica Ryadi v. Warden," carries docket number 5:26-cv-05501-SK. The judge granted her petition for judicial review of her detention. However, she has been wearing a GPS ankle monitor ever since. Her freedom now extends only as far as her next check-in, while the authorities track her every move.
At her first ICE check-in in Philadelphia, about 20 supporters accompanied her, including Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, who was also a wonderful supporter. She responded immediately when the case was brought to her attention. "This is my home. I've built a life here," Ryadi said. She is now fighting to have the ankle monitor removed because it makes her work at the hospital more difficult. At the same time, she fears being separated from her husband and son again. The 3-year-old has already watched his mother being taken away. What nobody can explain to him is why she might disappear again.
Our desks are piled high with cases like these. We don't just investigate. We fight to get people out of detention. Maybe this makes it a little easier to understand just how far our work goes beyond the articles we publish.
To be continued ...
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