Woman detained by ICE in Baltimore claims she's Maryland-born U.S. citizen

A woman is fighting deportation after her lawyer said ICE agents arrested her in Baltimore and ignored her claims she is a United States citizen.

22-year-old Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales' family said she was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents last Sunday, held in Baltimore, and then flown to Louisiana, where she remains in detention. 

Her lawyers said they have a birth certificate and other documentation to back up her U.S. citizenship.

Lawyer pleads for help 

Diaz Morales's lawyer, Victoria Slatton,'s videos have gone viral on TikTok. She has repeatedly pleaded for the release of her client and said she fears for her client's safety. 

Diaz Morales was taken into custody as she headed home from Taco Bell, and ICE agents placed her in a van, her family said. 

Her younger sister told HuffPost, "I kept shouting at them that she was from here, but they wouldn't listen to me."

Her lawyer said Diaz Morales was born at a hospital in Laurel, Maryland. 

"It is an indisputable fact that she was born inside the United States. I've seen her birth certificate. We have immunization records. We have multiple affidavits from people who were there at her birth," Slatton said. "I've personally called the hospital, and they confirm they do have records. They just cannot release them at this time. But we are working on getting additional evidence, but we have her birth certificate. That should be enough. She never should have been picked up in the first place."

Diaz Morales was first held in Baltimore, then taken to Louisiana. 

Her lawyers have since fought back in federal court.

This week, Maryland District Court Judge Brendan Hurson sided with them and ruled she cannot be removed from the United States for now. 

"Specifically, respondents, including all those acting for them or on their behalf, are enjoined from removing Petitioner Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales from the United States or altering her legal status during the pendency of this action, subject to further order of this Court," Judge Hurson wrote.

"I'm doing everything I can on the legal side, but I am at a loss because this is so far beyond what I ever thought I would be fighting for," Slatton said.

Trump Administration response

WJZ Investigates reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. 

Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin insisted Diaz Morales "is not a U.S. citizen" and claimed "she did not provide a valid U.S. birth certificate or any evidence in support of her claim that she is a U.S. citizen."

McLaughlin also said Diaz Morales was questioned by border patrol in 2023 near the Arizona-Mexico border and told authorities then that she was a Mexican citizen. 

She also responded to Slatton's claims that she could not get in touch with her client. 

"Any allegation that ICE does not allow detainees to contact legal assistance is false," McLaughlin told WJZ. "All detainees have access to phones to communicate with lawyers."

More briefings in the case are due Monday and the first week of the new year.