Washington:
An Indian-origin woman, who has lived in the US for 27 years and is a Green Card holder, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), even after an immigration judge dismissed an effort to remove her from the country months ago. Venkata Narsamamba Vasamsetty, a grandmother of two who has been a lawful permanent resident (LPR) in the United States since 2013, was taken into custody during a scheduled ICE check-in on August 11.
She is being held at an ICE detention facility in Georgia, despite a US judge’s May ruling terminating the government’s prior deportation case against her, Newsweek reported, citing data collected through ICE’s Online Detainee Locator System.
The case against Vasamsetty’s immigration status reportedly stemmed from a federal government’s allegation that she had abandoned her lawful permanent residency when she spent several months in India in 2022. However, her family and lawyer argue that during her extended stay in India, Vasamsetty was taking care of an ailing parent and recovering from COVID-19. They also argue that Vasamsetty maintains substantial ties to the United States through her family, employment, and home.
While LPRs are allowed to live in the US permanently, green-card holders can still face removal proceedings under federal immigration law in some cases. One such circumstance is a permanent resident’s absence from the US for more than six months. This could raise questions about whether they intended to abandon their US residence.
About Venkata Vasamsetty
Vasamsetty has lived in the US for 27 years and worked as a teacher for special-needs students in North Carolina, according to a LinkedIn post by immigration attorney Zoe Wilsona friend and former colleague of Vasamsetty’s daughter, Yashaswini Vasamsetty, who is herself an employment-based immigration attorney licensed in Texas and New Jersey.
According to Wilson, she had received the family’s permission to discuss the case publicly. She noted that Vasamsetty is a green card holder with no criminal history, has lived lawfully in the US for over 27 years, and has maintained lawful immigration status throughout that time.
“She has been a Lawful Permanent Resident, a green card holder, since 2013. She has NO criminal history. She is a public school teacher who primarily works with special-needs children. She is a mother to two U.S. citizen children. She has two US citizen grandchildren. Her home, her family, her career, and her life are here and have been here for over 27 years,” she wrote.
Wilson also noted that Vasamsetty is “severely diabetic” and “requires glucose monitoring and medical care.”
Case Against Vasamsetty
According to Wilson, Vasamsetty travelled to India in July 2022 to care for her elderly, critically ill parents. Her return to the US was delayed after she contracted COVID-19 and experienced additional health complications.
She “became ill enough that she was hospitalised in India for nearly two weeks. After she was discharged, there were other medical issues that further delayed her ability to make a long international trip. When she was finally well enough to travel, she returned home to the United States through Raleigh-Durham International Airport in February 2023. She had been outside the country for about 7 months,” she wrote.
What US Law Says
Wilson circled back to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) guidelines that state that “permanent residents are free to travel outside the United States, and temporary or brief travel usually does not affect your permanent resident status. If it is determined, however, that you did not intend to make the United States your permanent home, you will be found to have abandoned your permanent resident status.”
Permanent residents who have been outside the US for over 180 days can sometimes face scrutiny upon reentry to examine whether they maintained US residency and intended to keep America as their permanent home.
“She wasn’t packing up her life in the United States. She wasn’t moving back to India. She wasn’t leaving with the intention of giving up her green card. At the time she left, she was literally in the process of buying a home in North Carolina to be her primary residence. Then, while she was in India, she completed that purchase,” Wilson wrote.
“Any reasonable person should be able to look at the facts of Mrs Vasamsetty’s circumstances and understand the difference between a temporary, medically complicated trip and one with intent to actually abandon their green card,” she added.
The Defence
Talking to Food PulseVasamsetty’s attorney, Helen Parsonage, noted that in its case, the Department of Homeland Security has alleged that Vasamsetty’s seven-month stay in India demonstrated that she abandoned her permanent residency, and therefore she was placed in removal proceedings.
Vasamsetty countered the allegations by submitting documentation proving she worked to maintain her life in the US while she was out of the country.
Parsonage noted that DHS failed to meet a court-imposed deadline to submit evidence supporting its case, leading to an immigration judge dismissing the removal proceedings on May 19, 2026.
Since then, Vasamsetty has continued to report for scheduled ICE check-ins. She was detained on August 11 when she reported at the agency’s Charlotte office.
According to Wilson, ICE claims she “isn’t a green card holder.”
After she was taken into custody, Vasamsetty’s legal team on August 13 filed an emergency habeas corpus petition challenging her continued detention, and a federal judge ordered immigration authorities to explain within three days the legal basis for her detention.
According to the NRI Pulse report, ICE’s latest filing does not concede that Vasamsetty’s detention was unlawful, nor does it order her release. Instead, it indicates that if the federal court applies its recent precedent, she would be entitled to an immigration judge to consider whether she can be released on bond.
So, if the federal court rules in favour of the government, Vasamsetty is expected to receive a bond hearing within seven days.
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