Massachusetts mother seeking asylum but fearing deportation won't be detained by ICE after check-in

A mother from Lynn, Massachusetts who feared for days that she was about to be deported was not detained by immigration authorities after a meeting Monday.

Mariola Perez came to the United States from Guatemala 16 years ago, a survivor of the genocide there. She's been seeking asylum here for more than a decade. She has a 15-year-old son with complex medical needs who is a U.S. citizen. Perez has worked in Lynn as a trained medical interpreter and para-educator in the city's public schools.

Perez said she was told to expect to be detained at her next regularly scheduled check-in with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Burlington on Monday. She has not clarified exactly who told her this. Two rallies were held for her in Lynn in the last week.

Perez went to the check-in meeting Monday morning and was allowed to leave without any issues.

"Today, DHS made a decision not to detain Mariola at her check-in and instead issued her a new date for a new check-in," Perez's immigration attorney Alec Peters Larson told reporters. 

"Any time we accompany our clients into the ICE building the threat is real," he said. "Detention's always a possibility at these check-ins. It's possible that folks in there, there's plenty of people in there, won't be as lucky as Mariola was today." 

Her next check-in meeting has been scheduled for November. 

"For operational security purposes, ICE does not disclose information pertaining to operations, including law enforcement plans, tactics, or strategies," a spokesperson for ICE told CBS News Boston Monday when asked for comment on Perez's case.

Peters Larson said Perez's case is far from over. She was granted what's called a "reasonable fear interview" Monday, a critical step in securing permanent protection and potentially citizenship.

"To this day she has not been provided an opportunity to tell her story, and to pursue the relief we believe she's eligible for," he said.

Perez was put on ICE's radar in 2013 during a traffic stop in which her attorney said she was racially profiled by a security worker and later arrested. It's unclear why she's been targeted recently. Peters Larson said Perez has no convictions.

Overcome with emotion after the meeting, Perez addressed a crowd of supporters outside the ICE facility in Burlington.

"I am so, so grateful for you being here, for your presence, for all your support, and your help, and for showing this country that we are human beings," she said through a translator.  

Lynn, Massachusetts is 13 miles north of Boston.