Filipina green card holder and UW worker released from Tacoma ICE center

After nearly three months in immigration detention, University of Washington employee Lewelyn Dixon was released Thursday to the cheers and hugs of family, co-workers, and a crowd of supporters gathered in Tacoma.

Bruno Mars' songs blasted over a speaker — before she was detained, Dixon had gotten tickets to attend his show in Las Vegas this week.

Judge Tammy Fitting heard Dixon’s case at the Tacoma immigration court Thursday, inside the Northwest ICE Processing Center where Dixon was held, and ruled that she should not be deported.

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Dixon turned to about a dozen friends and family in the courtroom, covered her face with her hand and fought back tears.

“I feel relief, elated, happy,” Dixon said as she left the courtroom.

She also described her months of detention as “hell.”

Dixon is a lab technician at UW Medicine and has a green card. She’s 64 years old and has lived in the U.S. since she was 14, when her family moved here from the Philippines.

Dixon was on her way back to the Seattle area on Feb. 28 after a family trip to the Philippines when she was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

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Her lawyer Benjamin Osorio said she was detained because of a non-violent conviction from 2001, for embezzlement. At the time, she was sentenced to 30 days in a halfway house and a $6,400 fine; she received no jail or prison time, he told KUOW.

Immigration attorneys have warned green card holders of increased risks of detention under the Trump administration, especially when travelling and returning to the U.S.

In response to Dixon’s arrest at Sea-Tac, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said in a statement “those convicted of offenses considered to be crimes involving moral turpitude, including aggravated felonies, can legally lose their status and be removed.”

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That includes crimes like property theft, forgery, and drug offenses.

The agency said it processes 1.2 million travelers each day and that a criminal record can be cause for detention.

During Dixon’s hearing, Department of Homeland Security attorney Mark Johnson questioned her about the prior conviction, including her initial responses to ICE that she didn’t remember some details from the 2001 case.

She responded in court that after she paid her fine and completed the terms of her probation, she “never looked back.” She explained to the judge that the embezzlement occurred while she was working as a vault teller at Washington Mutual, and she was tempted by being around so much money.

After the conviction, she sought out a career that would not involve money and eventually landed at UW Medicine, where she said her lab work mainly involves processing blood samples from cancer patients.

Although Dixon has been eligible for U.S. citizenship, she said she did not apply due to potential complications with some farmland in the Philippines that her father intended to leave to her.

She also told the judge she only has distant relatives in the Philippines and would face hardship if deported there.

"This is where I grew up. My family needs me. I need them. If you take me away, it will be devastating," Dixon told the judge.

After hearing Dixon’s testimony, Judge Fitting noted her discretion in the decision and said the favorable factors in Dixon’s case outweighed her criminal history. Fitting said she placed weight on Dixon’s ties to the community, her 50 years as a legal permanent resident, and her arrival here as a child, among other things.

The government waived an appeal.

“She needs to get her citizenship like ASAP,” Dixon’s niece Melania Madriaga said after the hearing. She said her aunt stayed positive in detention, but she’s worried about her health and wants Dixon to get a psychological evaluation.

“We can only just imagine how it feels in there and being confined, and someone stripped your freedom away,” Madriaga said.

She said her family plans to keep raising awareness about deportation risks for green card holders under shifting ICE practices, and also advocating for immigrants in detention who may have limited access to legal information or support.

For her first night back at her Edgewood home, Dixon said she’s eager to see her cat and have “a feast” with her family from Washington and Hawaii.