Pennsylvania nurse detained by ICE during Disneyland vacation fights to remain in U.S.
What was supposed to be a family vacation to Disneyland turned into two weeks in immigration detention for a Delaware County, Pennsylvania, nurse who was separated from her husband and 3-year-old son.
Now back home in the Philadelphia area, 30-year-old Monica Ryadi is fighting to remain in the country she has lived in since childhood.
Ryadi was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 15, 2026, as her family was beginning a trip to Disneyland.
"I didn't think about myself. I just thought about my son, you know, the fact that he had to witness the whole thing," Ryadi said. "And when's the next time I'm going to see him?"
Ryadi said her young son watched as federal agents took her into custody.
"He experienced the whole thing. Me being cuffed and had to walk away with these groups of men God knows where," she said.
Ryadi spent two weeks in immigration detention in California before being released Sept. 29 and reunited with her family.
Dispute over immigration status
Ryadi came to the United States from Indonesia when she was 9 years old after her family fled religious persecution.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Ryadi legally entered the U.S. in December 2005, but her authorization to remain expired on June 29, 2006.
DHS says an immigration judge issued a final order of removal in 2010.
However, Ryadi's attorney, Eric Rosenfeld, disputes the government's characterization of her immigration status.
Rosenfeld says Ryadi was granted withholding of removal in 2010, a form of legal protection that prevents the government from deporting someone to a country where they are likely to face persecution.
"Monica has been lawfully present since 2010, and she has not overstayed an order of withholding because you can't," Rosenfeld said.
A withholding of removal order does not provide permanent residency or automatically eliminate a final removal order, but it generally prohibits deportation to the country covered by that protection.
Nurse hopes to have ankle monitor removed
Ryadi was released from immigration detention last month under an order of supervision requiring GPS monitoring.
On Thursday, CBS News Philadelphia accompanied Ryadi to an immigration check-in in Center City Philadelphia.
Her attorney is pushing to have her ankle monitor removed, arguing that it creates an additional burden for Ryadi, who works as a nurse and spends long hours on her feet caring for patients.
For Ryadi, the uncertainty extends far beyond the monitoring device.
She has built a home and career in the Philadelphia area, where she lives with her husband and young son.
Despite being reunited with her family, she fears another separation and the possibility of being forced to leave the country she has called home for most of her life.
"This is my home. I built a life here," Ryadi said. "I wouldn't know what to do if they sent me to another country."
