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Topics: US News, UK News, Immigration, Life
Niamh Shackleton
A British woman has said that she gets nightmares about being arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents after being detained in November 2025.
Katie Paul, 34, had headed out to the US in September 2024 to be with her husband, Stephen Paul, 32, originally from San Diego, and the couple quickly tied the knot the following month. Soon after, the Brit fell pregnant with their first child.
Katie was planning on returning to the UK while she got her green card processed, but was told her pregnancy was high-risk, so she decided to remain in the US as a lawyer advised her that overstaying her visitor visa would not be an issue because she was undergoing the green card process.
Then, in November 2025, Katie and Stephen were at the San Diego US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) office, where Katie was undergoing her green card interview, and she was arrested.
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The British citizen was in the final stages of getting her card approved when ICE agents came in and arrested Katie while she had her then six-month-old son, Alan, in her arms.
After Katie was arrested, she spent five days in Otay Mesa ICE Detention Centre, before her green card was approved and she was released.
Katie, a stay-at-home mom, originally from Suffolk, England, said: "There were ICE agents near my house a couple of weeks ago, I got into such a panic because I was so distressed they were going to arrest me.
"I have nightmares every single night.
"Each night, I will see those agents rip him from my arms while they cuff me. It is a constant reminder."
Going on to recall being pregnant with her son and still undergoing the green card process, Katie shared: "A week before I was due back to England, I found out I was pregnant.
"The pregnancy was high-risk, so I didn't want to get on a plane back to the UK.
"I thought it would be best to stay in the US with my husband."
Katie said she reached out to multiple immigration lawyers, who told her she would be fine to enter the green card process.
She also claims that due to her high-risk pregnancy, if she overstayed on her visitor visa it would be okay.
"We didn't plan on doing an overstay, but we were told that it would not be an issue," Katie said.
"I ended up overstaying my visitor visa because there were lots of issues with my pregnancy, as it was high-risk. We decided to pause my green card application until after my son was born."
In July 2025, Katie started the green card process and was called to a green card interview on November 19, 2025.
Katie said the interview 'went really well' and thought the meeting had wrapped up when three ICE agents entered the room.
She said: "It was so bizarre, I was holding my baby boy at the time, and I was crying. I could not believe what was going on.
"The USCIS supervisor came in during the arrest, saying that I was eligible for a green card.
"She was crying trying to tell the ICE agents, but they had their orders, and they would not approve my green card."
The mom-of-one went on to be detained for five days before her green card was eventually approved. Despite this, Katie claimed that ICE agents were not able to release her from the detention centre.
Instead, Katie was handcuffed and driven to the US-Mexico border and dropped off by ICE agents. She recalled: "They told me they can't release people from the detention centre and they have to take me to the Mexico border. It was really bizarre.
"They placed me back in handcuffs and ankle cuffs, which was distressing as I had just been accepted for my green card.
"Luckily, my husband works near the border, so he was waiting there to take me home."