The Brief

The last time there was proof of a mountain lion roaming the Verdugo Mountains was in 2018, when P-55, also known as Adonis, was captured by hidden wildlife cameras.

It was a big deal then, because the Verdugo Mountains had lost another male cougar in 2017. Biologists at the time were hopeful that Adonis would mate with a known female in the area called Nikita. When Adonis left the area, Nikita stopped appearing on the cameras.

But last December, a handsome male cougar was captured by the camera of wildlife photographer Johanna Turner.

Local residents of the Verdugo Mountains call him the La Tuna Puma whom wildlife photographer Johanna Turner captured on camera last year.

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Courtesy Johanna Turner

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Turner is a consultant with the Cougar Conservancy and she’s been documenting the movement of Southern California’s mountain lions in the Verdugo Mountains since 2011.

“It has, you know, several canyons with year-round water sources and lots of deer and no competition,” said Turner. Residents share the mountain space with native species and the area attracts avid hikers who enjoy exploring the shrubbery.

For Turner, seeing another puma wander the Verdugos is exciting.

“As long as he doesn't bother people, he should settle in really nicely.”

Right now, the mountain lion’s main threat is Canyon Hills — a 221-luxury home development slated to be built in the heart of his territory.

The trajectory of the Canyon Hills project spans 20 years, dating back to its approval in 2005.

At the time, local environmental activists and community members opposed the project that’s set to rise on both sides of the 210 Freeway in Sunland-Tujunga.

Resistance has resurfaced now that the project’s developer, Nevada based Whitebird Inc, has applied for a grading permit to begin shaving off 80 feet of ridgelines.

When Emma Kemp, a Tujunga resident, heard about the grading permit, she reached out to local wildlife advocates, botanists and Gabrielino/Tongva and Fernandeño Tataviam tribe members to mobilize their efforts to stop the development project. She formed the community group No Canyon Hills and started a petition to request a second environmental impact report (EIR) that, as of now, has over 170,000 signatures. 

“This is an opportunity to press pause and reevaluate before we further fragment the habitat here,” said Kemp.

Emma Kemp, a Sunland-Tujunga resident and co-founder of No Canyon Hills, bends down to smell fresh buckwheat in the Verdugos.

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Gillian Morán Pérez

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The argument

Approval for the project was based on an EIR approved in 2004.

The No Canyon Hills group and other wildlife advocates are demanding the city intervene and request another EIR. But Whitebird Inc. attorney Jack Rubens stands by the city’s decision made years ago.

“A second EIR cannot be required for the Canyon Hills Project because it's fully entitled and doesn't require any further discretionary approval,” Rubens said.

And there’s another issue that No Canyon Hills says underscores the need for a new EIR. The proposed development stands in a Very High Fire Severity Zone, according to the city of Los Angeles Fire Protection Bureau.

The area has seen multiple wildfires in the past, the latest being the La Tuna Fire in 2017 which destroyed five homes and charred 7,200 acres of land. To this day, the surviving scraps of burnt trees and bushes remain.

A charred tree in the middle of the Verdugos.

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Courtesy Rio Asch Phoenix

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Rubens says that if anything, the development will help mitigate wildfire risk.

“It will provide a new southern evacuation route for those residents to La Tuna Canyon Road in the 210 Freeway and include a new 1 million-gallon water tank close to the existing neighborhoods.”

Rubens adds the road will give firefighters better access to the hillside once the road system is constructed.

The city’s role in the project

Dean Wallraff is an attorney working with No Canyon Hills and the executive director of Advocates for the Environment. He was part of the original effort to stop the Canyon Hills development when it first came to city council back in 2003.

Wallraff sent a letter to the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety, the Los Angeles City Planning Department, and Councilmember Monica Rodriguez’s office arguing that the grading permit would be discretionary and would trigger further review from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Per CEQA guidelines, a project is deemed discretionary if it requires a public agency or body, like a city council, to exercise its judgment and approve or disapprove the project.

Kemp met with Rodriguez in April to discuss the Canyon Hills project, but Rodriguez said her hands are tied.

Here’s what she said in a recent statement to LAist:

We asked City Planning if the grading permit requires discretion and their response was — no.

Instead, the permit is deemed ministerial. That means “a governmental decision involving little or no personal judgment by the public official as to the wisdom or manner of carrying out the project.” In short, a public official can’t use their personal, subjective judgment to carry out a decision on the project.

What’s at stake

A stream of water flowing through the Verdugos.

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Courtesy Rio Asch Phoenix

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“This is one of the only one of the few recreation areas for the city of Los Angeles,” said Lydia Grant, president of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council.

The Verdugos are rich with native species including the crotch bumblebee which is listed as federally endangered under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service. Having lost 70% of its habitat over the years, the bumblebee is also listed by the state as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need.

A trek into the Verdugo Mountains will lead you to other native fauna, like the Hollyleaf Cherry tree, which amateur botanist Haley Hopkins says is a keystone species. It provides food and habitat to other creatures. One of the oldest Hollyleaf Cherry trees stands on the proposed site of Canyon Hills.

“It's like this ripple effect because then there's gonna be less bugs around because they're not gonna have as much food. And then that's gonna hit your birds next, and then your small mammals, and then …that means apex predators,” says Hopkins. The La Tuna Puma is a critical apex predator.

The bush poppy, a plant known as a fire follower that sprouts in areas that went through wildfires.

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Devlin Gandy, a conservationist, says that the Verdugo Mountains function as a “completely viable wildlife habitat and corridor in a ring perspective that encircles a suburban sprawl” connecting the Tujunga wash to the Hahamonga Watershed near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.

When the final EIR came out in 2004, it did not detect any mountain lions throughout the area. It described the potential for wildlife using the pathway between the Tujunga Wash and the Verdugo Mountains as “tenuous at best” and that ultimately, the proposed development would not affect that connection.

But that was then, and this is now say local wildlife advocates, and there’s plenty of cougar scat to show that they do pass through the area.

To that point, Rubens says that Whitebird has already taken measures to address wildlife movement.

“Whitebird revisited this issue with Caltrans in connection with an approval that was required for the project and agreed to construct two wildlife friendly fences between the freeway."

The southern edge of the project provides an additional potential movement path for the mountain lion, even though it's an unlikely path due to its proximity to noise and light from freeway vehicles,” said Rubens.

A screenshot of the developer Whitebird Inc's proposed Wildlife Movement Path that would create a fence around the housing development

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Courtesy No Canyon Hills

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Elephant Hill serves as inspiration

Doug Carstens, another environmental attorney helping No Canyon Hills, recalls a similar battle that started in 1984 and ended in 2007 — the fight to save Elephant Hill.

Residents in El Sereno mobilized to save Elephant Hill, one of the few parks in the area filled with walnut groves.

In 2004, the L.A. City Council at the time approved a 24-lot development that was proposed in 1984 but locals found out that the developer expanded that to 56 lots without further review. The community partnered with Carstens' law firm to contest the development.

It wasn’t until 2007 when former Councilmember Jose Huizar persuaded the council to withhold issuing a building permit until another EIR was submitted by the developer. The developer sued, but in the end, the city council purchased the land, declaring victory for locals.

While the Elephant Hill case was different, Carstens says that that story serves a purpose.

“I think it's at the heart of this, which is, can you do further environmental review and are you legally required to when an approval, you know, was granted at a certain level, so many years ago,” said Carstens.

'We're all connected to it'

In a recent conversation between No Canyon Hills and the developer, the developer said they would consider selling the land — for upwards of $10 million.

Kemp says that’s a huge deal for their fight and they are courting philanthropic foundations and local conservancy groups to save this portion of the Verdugos.

At a community meeting in early June, supporters of No Canyon Hills gathered to hear about the project's status. Supporters filled the pews of the Church of Verdugos and their chatter electrified the air.

Community members gather at the visioning event hosted by No Canyon Hills.

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Gillian Morán Pérez

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Kemp called it a “visioning event” where people could come together and share ideas.

Nathan Nuñez, a Gabrielino Indigenous cultural keeper, said that it’s important to save the cultural resources, the plants, the animals, the land saying, “we're all connected to it.”

Jen Ho, a La Crescenta resident, left her house for the first time in five months after having her baby to attend the meeting.

“I'm really committed to protecting the land for future generations on top of wishing this land be kept intact for wildlife and plants. I would love for this people-led movement to become a pivotal changing point in how L.A. city governs."

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday agreed to pay $4.9 million to settle four lawsuits by people who were injured in collisions with Sheriff’s Department patrol cars.

The payouts come amid increased scrutiny of crashes by law enforcement officers. It has emerged as a major national issue, with cities across the country paying out hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts because of vehicle collisions involving officers, deputies or agents.

In the latest L.A. County payouts, tied to collisions that happened between 2018 and 2020, all plaintiffs said deputies were negligent when they crashed into their cars.

County supervisors settled the lawsuits during an open-session vote Tuesday. The county admitted no wrongdoing.

A collision in Paramount

Freddy Ontiveros and Antonio De La Cruz Zamora were hit from behind in 2018 in the city of Paramount, according to their lawsuit filed in Superior Court. They alleged in the suit that a sheriff’s deputy “rear ended the vehicle which was stopped behind plaintiff's vehicle, pushing the vehicle into plaintiff's vehicle causing plaintiff personal injuries and property damage.”

The deputy was responding to a call of a robbery in progress and had activated the lights and sirens on the vehicle.

A review of the Crash Data Retrieval system found the deputy was traveling south on Paramount Boulevard at 75 mph and slowed to 35 mph at the time of the collision, according to a corrective action plan presented to the board Tuesday.

“The collision investigation concluded that the deputy sheriff caused the collision as he was driving at an unsafe speed for traffic conditions,” the plan stated.

The case settled for $1.75 million.

Later, the Lakewood Sheriff’s Station — which covers Paramount — conducted a review of all traffic collisions for the calendar year 2020 through the end of 2024. The audit revealed there were 196 total collisions for this five-year period, 129 of which were classified as preventable and 67 classified as non-preventable.

“To improve employee safety and reduce the Department's liability and exposure, Lakewood supervisors continue to conduct bi-weekly briefings which focus on the importance of safe driving as well as abiding by all the rules of the road when operating county vehicles,” the plan stated.

Other collisions

In a separate incident, Shannon Story had a green light at Palmdale intersection on Oct. 27, 2019. According to her complaint, a deputy ran a red light and crashed into Story’s vehicle as she entered the intersection. The impact of the collision caused Story’s vehicle to crash into the corner wall of a 7-Eleven convenience store.

“Plaintiff sustained significant injuries as a result of the collision,” her complaint read. She settled the case for $1.2 million.

In another case filed by Jose Gaitan, he says a sheriff’s deputy in a department vehicle rear-ended his car. LAist was not immediately able to get further details on the crash. He settled for $450,000.

The summary corrective action plan for a fourth collision describes how a deputy was backing up to make contact with a suspect when he ran into a car driven by Alejandra Gonzalez. The deputy “reversed approximately two to three feet and collided into the Plaintiff’s vehicle at approximately 5-10 mph.”

Gonzalez settled for $1.5 million.

With only 100 days to go before the FIFA World Cup, what should have been a period of celebration is turning instead into one of turmoil.

The U.S. and Israel attacks on Iran have raised major questions about whether the Persian country will withdraw from the 48-squad tournament — a step no other country has taken after qualifying since 1950 when Scotland, as well as others such as India and Turkey, decided not to participate in part tied to travel costs to the games in Brazil.

But Iran's participation is not the only uncertainty. Violence in Mexico following the killing of a cartel boss sparked questions about the country's ability to attract fans, while concerns about funding for U.S. host cities have also flared up in recent weeks.

And then there is the outrage over the ticket prices, and controversy surrounding President Donald Trump and his administration's policies, including military actions and immigration enforcement.

Angst in the runup to World Cup tournaments is nothing new. Concerns about violence preceded the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments in South Africa and Brazil, while the selection of Russia and Qatar as hosts for the last previous two tournaments also sparked controversies of their own.

But no World Cup men's tournament has been this big before, with 48 teams set to play 104 matches across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. And no recent World Cup has been staged amidst so much global geopolitical uncertainty.

Here are the top areas of concern ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Will Iran withdraw?

It was the top question surrounding the FIFA World Cup as the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran this weekend. So far there's no indication that Iran plans to withdraw, whether to boycott it or for other reasons.

Iran is one of the stronger squads in Asia and is set to play its seventh World Cup this year.

Iran Football Federation President Mehdi Taj acknowledged the uncertainty on Iranian TV, according to Reuters and other media.

"What we can say now is that due to this attack and its viciousness, it is far from our expectations that we can look at the World Cup with hope," Taj said according to the wire agency.

Iran is set to play two games against New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles, home to a large Iranian diaspora community. The country will also play Egypt in Seattle.

FIFA has not directly weighed in. Its general secretary, Mattias Grafstrom, said on Sunday the organization would continue to "monitor the developments around all issues around the world."

"We had the final draw in Washington, where all teams participated. Our focus is to have a safe Word Cup with everyone participating," Grafstrom said.

Whether Iran participates at the World Cup may be in doubt, but at least one thing is certain: its fans will find it difficult to travel to the U.S. given that Iran is one of a handful of countries that faces a travel ban, though it doesn't affect the team and its coaches.

Iran's players pose for a team picture ahead of a FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifying game against North Korea at the Azadi Sports Complex in Tehran on June 10, 2025.

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Atta Kenare

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AFP via Getty Images

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Will Mexico be safe for visitors?

The flare-up of violence by armed groups across the country after Mexico killed cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes last month has sparked concerns about safety and security at one of the co-hosts of the tournament.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has asserted there will be no risks when the country stages the World Cup, while FIFA President Gianni Infantino has expressed his "total confidence" in Mexico.

Mexico is set to host 13 games for the World Cup, including four in Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco where Oseguera Cervante's group is primarily based and where much of the violence took place.

Concerns about violence are not new. Questions about safety also were raised ahead of the South Africa 2010 World Cup as well as Brazil in 2014 — and both countries ended up successfully hosting their respective tournaments.

Will American host cities get funding?

Concerns about finances are a perennial concern ahead of major sports events — and the U.S. is proving no different.

The 11 American host cities still have not received $625 million in federal funding for security costs that are critical to staging the tournament, including in Foxborough, Mass. The funding was supposed to be provided by the Department of Homeland Security through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.

A FEMA spokesperson directed NPR to a recent posting on X from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem noting that "FEMA was in the final stages of reviewing applications to ensure proper oversight" but that the partial shutdown affecting the agency — for which she blamed Democrats — had put "significant portions of the FEMA staff on administrative leave."

For some host cities, the matter is becoming urgent. The White House FIFA World Cup Task Force has not yet responded to NPR's queries.

"Without receiving this money, it could be catastrophic for our planning and coordination," Ray Martinez, the chief operating officer for the Miami Host Committee, told a congressional hearing according to Politico.

Will fans be priced out of the tournament?

Perhaps no issue more directly affects fans than the staggering high costs they are facing to attend the World Cup.

FIFA has set the highest ticket prices ever for a World Cup, making tickets to the tournament unaffordable for many fans. Its use of dynamic pricing has also sparked controversy; the most expensive tickets to the final in New Jersey initially sold at over $6,300 only to jump to nearly $8,700 in later sales.

The MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., is set to host eight games in the 2026 World Cup, including the final set for July 19, 2026.

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Al Bello

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Getty Images North America

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Not only are ticket prices high — the cost of travel and lodging has surged. Yet despite all the challenges, FIFA claimed it had received over 500 million ticket requests in its last sales window.

That said, FIFA has provided little additional information to back up its claims, making it difficult to determine whether the demand is concentrated just in high profile games such as Colombia against Portugal in Miami or mainly focused in high-profile teams such as Argentina.

Will President Trump and his policies deter fans?

Perhaps the biggest unknown is the effect that Trump and his administration's policies will have on attending the World Cup.

The administration's travel restrictions not only affects Iranian fans, they also hit fans of three other countries that have already qualified for the tournament: Senegal, Ivory Coast and Haiti.

President Trump and his policies remain controversial both at home and abroad. Earlier this year, when Trump threatened to invade Greenland, some European officials raised the prospect of a boycott though the moves never prospered. Even former FIFA President Sepp Blatter encouraged fans to "stay away" from the U.S.

And the latest U.S. and Israel attacks against Iran — which follow the U.S. capture of Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro — have brought renewed attention to FIFA's controversial awarding of its peace prize at the tournament's draw ceremony in Washington, D.C., in December.

The U.S. has already seen a sharp decrease in visitors for a number of reasons, including increased scrutiny at the border (such as a requirement to potentially share social media posts), as well as unease about violence because of high-profile killings involving U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Oxford Economics projects a rise in visitors tied to the World Cup, so the number of visitors could at least partially recover this year, though other research points to a reduced number of visitors from Europe to the U.S. this year.

It's yet another sign of uncertainty in what is set to be the biggest-ever tournament with only 100 days to go.
Copyright 2026 NPR

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Below 40-degree temperatures didn’t stop a running crew of women from gathering before sunrise in Lincoln Heights on one of L.A.’s coldest mornings this year. 

Bundled up in beanies and gloves, they warmed up by stretching their arms and legs before setting off into residential streets. They logged three miles in just over 30 minutes.

But this isn’t your regular run club.

As they run through El Sereno, Cypress Park, Highland Park and Lincoln Heights, they scan intersections for suspicious or unmarked vehicles. They slow down near bus stops with early risers on their way to work. They greet street vendors selling tamales.

They’re the N.E.L.A Patrol Runners, and they’re looking for immigration agents.

The group formed in February, amid heightened anxiety in Northeast L.A., where federal agents have taken day laborers at the Cypress Park Home Depot and detained a food vendor in Highland Park as recently as last month. In neighborhoods with high immigrant populations, founder Claudia Yanez said she saw a need for neighbors to look out for each other in real time. 

The idea came to 30-year-old Yanez while on a recent run in her El Sereno neighborhood, when she found herself “unconsciously patrolling.”

“If you live in areas targeted [by ICE], you’re already looking out,” Yanez said.

While groups across Los Angeles, including Unión del Barrio, the Harbor Area Peace Patrols in Terminal Island, and the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network, conduct rapid response efforts, Yanez said their patrol runs are rooted specifically in Northeast L.A.. 

Their mission, she said, is “to defend from ICE terrorism.”

The N.E.L.A Patrol Runners stretch on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, before beginning their run toward the Home Depot in Cypress Park.

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They start at 6 a.m. and typically run two to three miles at an 11- to 12-minute mile pace, allowing them to stop, investigate and document any vehicles that could be linked to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. If they spot anything suspicious, they would quickly call Unión del Barrio.

The goal is not to physically interfere, but to document and alert neighbors of ICE activity nearby. 

“As a runner, you kind of already have eyes out,” said Yanez, who recently attended a patrol training with the Community Self-Defense Coalition.

“You’re not in a car, so you’re able to see things a little more clearly, closely and slower.”

As Yanez recruits for more runners, a pinned post on the group’s Instagram reads: “Do you like running and hate ICE? Join N.E.L.A. Patrol Runners.”

So far, the group is made up of a small but consistent set of runners — all women.

“I need men to show up,” Yanez said. 

With a handful of runners, “we’re also vulnerable,” she said. “When it’s a big group of people, especially if we’re actively patrolling, we need numbers so it could feel safer.”

To Yanez, this work is a shared responsibility. “I feel like we all have a part to play right now,” she said.

The NELA Patrol Runners jog on Daly Street in Lincoln Heights.

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Ultimately, Yanez hopes their efforts do more than monitor immigration agents. She hopes to also build community and reassurance. “The more we do it, the more we get to know our neighbors,” she said. She wants vendors and others to find comfort knowing: “They’re looking out for us.”

The N.E.L.A Patrol Runners drew inspiration from the Huntington Park Run Club, a group that began tracking and verifying ICE activity after agents in early June raided the Home Depot on Slauson Avenue and State Street. 

“We’ve always responded to the needs of the community,” said Iris Delgado, 34, founder of the Huntington Park Run Club. “That’s what people have known about us.”

Since its founding in 2024, the run club has advocated for pedestrian safety after a relative of a run club member was hit by a vehicle; they’ve also discussed the role of men in keeping each other safe after one of their runners was sexually harassed at a local park. 

“When the raids happened in June, it was like, ‘OK, this is another safety component,” Delgado said.

The run club morphed into providing community self-defense tactics. 

Members of the run club trained with the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network to learn how to monitor ICE activity as people began sending footage of reported immigration raids to their Instagram account. They raised and distributed money for local day laborers and street vendors, and helped establish a community defense center at the nearby Home Depot.

Their efforts inspired the creation of the Southeast Los Angeles Rapid Response Network.

For Delgado, running in your neighborhood is a source of pride and joy. “No matter what’s happening, we’re still outside,” she said.

“The role of a person who runs, who’s able-bodied, is to be aware of why other people in your community don’t feel safe running … and try to make it a little bit safer for them,” Delgado said. 

“When the N.E.L.A. Patrol runners first started, I was like, ‘Hell, yeah,’” Delgado said. “When people take it as their responsibility to look out for each other, that’s what makes the community safer.”

A N.E.L.A. Patrol Runners sign can be seen on the window of a coffee shop in Highland Park.

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In Cypress Park, the N.E.L.A. Patrol runners last Friday jogged toward the Home Depot on Figueroa, where last fall a toddler was among six people taken in an immigration raid.

“Buenos dias, chicas,” a tamalera said, greeting them.

“Bien despiertas,” a passerby said. 

The runners reached the Home Depot parking lot, slowed down and walked closely toward parked trucks to ensure the vehicles were not the kind typically used by ICE. 

They determined the scene was clear and ran back to complete their patrol. Another quiet morning – for now.

ICE has released Cambodian Genocide survivor Sithy Yi from immigration detention following an order by a federal judge.

Yi, who fled the genocide and came to the U.S. with her family in 1981, was detained by ICE at a routine immigration check-in in Santa Ana on Jan. 8 and held at the Adelanto Detention Facility for almost two months.

In response to a lawsuit arguing that she was being held unconstitutionally, U.S. District Judge Cynthia Valenzuela issued an order Friday requiring ICE to “immediately release” Yi. The order also prevents the agency from deporting Yi without providing an opportunity to be heard by a neutral arbiter and bans ICE from transferring her outside the court’s jurisdiction.

The ruling says the government did not oppose Yi’s request for the court to order her released. Her attorney had alleged ICE failed to follow procedural requirements such as showing she violated any conditions of her release or proving that she would likely be deported in the “reasonably foreseeable future.”

Reunited with her family

Yi was released Monday and has returned to her family, according to her attorney. Yi’s family includes her mother and two sisters she helped to survive starvation and mass killings at the hands of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia before they came to the U.S. as refugees.

Retaliation allegations against detention center staff

Yi’s attorney says that in addition to the court’s findings, she believes her client’s Eighth Amendment right against cruel and unusual punishment was violated while detained at Adelanto.

“ She was retaliated against by security and medical personnel because she had been communicating with her family, and through her family with me. And we've been reporting about these conditions to Sen. [Adam] Schiff, as well as other members of Congress. And somehow word got back and she was retaliated against,” her attorney Kim Luu-Ng told LAist’s AirTalk on Tuesday.

“She was verbally abused, but she was also punished. She was not allowed to use the bathroom. She was not allowed to shower,” Luu-Ng continued.

“It is absolutely freezing in the detention center, but they don't care. She said to me that she has to wrap herself in blankets, but they're still freezing.”

Yi and other detainees were regularly getting sick from spoiled food served at the facility.

“These are civil detainees. These are not criminal detainees. And there are laws in this country that are supposed to protect against this type of punitive and cruel treatment of detainees,” Luu-Ng added.

She said that in many ways, she feels “criminal detainees have even more rights than civil detainees. And so this is a real crisis.”

Why Yi was released

Luu-Ng has represented Yi since her immigration case began in 2013. Yi was first brought to immigration court after a drug conviction her family says stemmed from untreated mental health issues from being tortured as a child and prolonged exposure to abuse into adulthood.

Her immigration case ended in 2016, with a judge ruling to withhold an order of removal due to concerns she would be tortured if she were deported to Cambodia.

Yi also applied for a U visa — a type of visa providing temporary immigration status to crime victims who have cooperated with law enforcement — in 2022. That visa application is still pending.

Judge Valenzuela explained her reasoning for the order, writing in the document that ICE did not oppose a motion by Yi’s lawyer requesting she be released. Luu-Ng claimed in the motion that ICE detained her client without following required steps, such as showing she violated any conditions of her release or proving that she would likely be deported in the “reasonably foreseeable future.”

Valenzuela also pointed to another case against ICE where she granted an order for Ramy Hakim to be released based on similar circumstances Jan. 22. Hakim was detained at a regular immigration check-in Dec. 19 despite receiving protections in 2004 against being deported to Egypt where he would likely be tortured. He was held at the same Adelanto facility as Yi.

“The facts are a Biden-appointed activist judge ordered this criminal illegal alien released into American communities," a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in an emailed statement. The spokesperson said Yi was ordered to be removed from the country in 2016 had “received full due process.”

Yi’s attorney says ICE kept her detained through the weekend despite the judge ordering her to be released immediately.

 ”ICE doesn't work on the weekends,” Luu-Ng said. “Any minute that my client was detained beyond the time that the order was issued was an unconstitutional detention.”

ICE spokespeople have not responded to a request for comment about this allegation.