A Telugu-origin grandmother from Andhra Pradesh has become the centre of a complicated US immigration case after a judge ordered her release on bond, weeks after she was detained during what was supposed to be a routine check-in with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Venkata Narasamamba Vasamsetty, originally from a village near Amalapuram in Andhra Pradesh’s Konaseema district, moved to the United States in 1999 after her husband settled there.
She obtained a Green Card in 2013 and built her life in Cary, North Carolina, where she worked as a substitute teacher in the Wake County Public School System and raised two US-citizen daughters.
Her immigration troubles began after a 2022 trip to India to care for her ailing father. She reportedly fell ill with Covid-19, delaying her return to the US by more than six months.
The Department of Homeland Security argued that the extended absence indicated that she had abandoned her lawful permanent resident status and initiated removal proceedings against her.
However, in May, an immigration judge terminated the proceedings, ruling that the government had failed to establish that she was removable. The decision was seen by her legal team as effectively affirming her status as a lawful permanent resident.
Despite this, Vasamsetty continued attending her scheduled ICE check-ins.
The case took a dramatic turn on August 11 when she reported to an ICE office in Charlotte for a routine appointment. Instead of being allowed to leave, she was detained and later transferred to the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, where she remained for more than two weeks.
The detention shocked her family, particularly because the earlier removal case had already been terminated.
At a bond hearing, DHS attorney Abby Cannon reportedly acknowledged that Vasamsetty did not pose a danger to the community but argued that she was a flight risk, citing the amount of time she had spent outside the US in recent years.
Her attorney, Helen Parsonage, countered that the overseas trips were connected to caring for her ageing parents. She also pointed to Vasamsetty’s deep ties to the United States, including her husband, US-citizen children and grandchildren, home, employment, tax history and lack of a criminal record.
Immigration Judge Chad Bayse largely agreed with Vasamsetty’s arguments. While acknowledging some remaining flight-risk concerns, he ruled that DHS had not met its burden of proof and set bond at $7,500.
The judge, however, declined to set the bond at the minimum amount. Her release is subject to conditions, including attending all future immigration hearings and staying out of legal trouble.
The bond order does not completely settle the underlying immigration dispute. DHS continues to maintain that Vasamsetty abandoned her permanent resident status, while her legal team disputes that claim.
Adding to the family’s concerns, relatives say Vasamsetty has severe insulin-dependent diabetes and have alleged that she did not receive adequate medical care or appropriate food while in detention.
Her family is now working to post the bond and bring her back home to Cary, North Carolina, while the larger immigration dispute continues.
