An LAX immigration detention stretched from hours into days. Family says it feels like a kidnapping

Mihaela Atanase’s flight from her native Romania landed at Los Angeles International Airport shortly after noon last Thursday.

She’s been in the custody of immigration officials ever since.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection held the legal U.S. resident at the airport over the weekend, with no explanation or legal representation, according to an attorney handling the case, and only one short phone call to her fiancé, Giovanni Miceli. While CBP says it “tries not to hold individuals in custody for longer than 72 hours,” long holds are a tactic used more frequently in recent months under the Trump administration, according to legal advocates interviewed by LAist.

“Essentially, it feels like my fiancé, my son’s mother, is being held hostage,” Miceli said during a phone call with LAist on Sunday morning. “Except even worse than that because there’s no negotiation to it. We don’t even know anything, and it’s not fair.”

Jennica Janssen, an attorney representing the family, called the detention “unlawful” because Atanase was held for over 72 hours with no explanation or access to an attorney — a violation of state law. Immigration officials at LAX told Janssen that Atanase is not being held on criminal charges, so she is not entitled to legal representation.

Atanase was transferred to an ICE facility in Bakersfield on Sunday night and has been relocated since, according to Janssen. Janssen told LAist she has been unable to find out where Atanase is currently held.

Detention related to 20-year-old misdemeanor

Janssen said Atanase finally was given an explanation for her detention by officials Wednesday: a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction involving Atanase’s brother from 2005. Court records reviewed by LAist list the offense category as Assault with a Deadly Weapon, excluding firearms or vehicles.

According to documents described to Janssen by Atanase, immigration officials have labeled that a “crime of moral turpitude,” making Atanase ineligible to enter the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Justice website, that term “is difficult to define with precision” but “refers generally to conduct that shocks the public conscience."

It’s highly unusual for a decades-old misdemeanor charge to land someone in an immigration detention center, Janssen said. Janssen said Atanase was allowed to renew her green card last year and to leave the country without complications.

LAX referred LAist to the Department of Homeland Security. In an emailed statement, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary for public affairs for the agency, stood behind the detention decision.

“A green card is a privilege, not a right, and under our nation’s laws, our government has the authority to revoke a green card if our laws are broken and abused,” McLaughlin said. “Lawful Permanent Residents presenting at a U.S. port of entry with certain criminal convictions may be found inadmissible, placed in removal proceedings, and subject to mandatory detention.”

McLaughlin did not respond to questions from LAist through a spokesperson.

Natalie Richman, an attorney at Global Immigration Legal Team, said while hard data about detentions at airports is unavailable, immigration attorneys have seen an increase in similar cases where sometimes decades-old criminal convictions are retroactively labeled crimes involving moral turpitude at ports of entry in order to detain and, in some cases, deport immigrants.

“They are retroactively applying a more aggressive standard to people who are legally in the U.S.,” Richman said. “Certainly since the Trump administration, any criminal contact they can, no matter how old, they are using it to justify detention and to try to deport.”

Richman said immigration attorneys have argued for years the label is “an overbroad definition that the government uses as a catch-all.”

Richman said her team recently successfully defended a man detained in Texas under similar circumstances to Atanase. “Some judges aren’t putting up with it,” Richman said. “They’re saying, ‘You just invented this. This person has been here all this time and you haven’t done anything with it.’”

How often are travelers detained at LAX?

The Department of Homeland Security does not release data on detentions or denied entries at U.S. ports of entry, and a spokesperson for the agency has not responded to LAist questions about how often individuals are detained at LAX and other airports. Research from multiple sources such as the travel research firm Tourism Economics suggests international travel to the U.S. has declined in 2025, with researchers citing tariffs and the immigration crackdown as factors.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed immigration officials under Trump to resume widespread immigration enforcement targeting people based on their language, employment, and ethnic appearance. Richman said that decision likely will lead to more cases like Atanase’s ongoing detention.

“There seems to be a directive that as many people that can be detained and deported, regardless of their family ties, the administration wants to put everyone in the deportation system,” Richman said. “They don’t care if it affects the U.S. economy, if it affects families or jobs, their main priority is deportation.”

The backstory

Mihaela Atanase came to the U.S. in 1988 when she was 12 years old with her family. She returned to Romania in January after her brother died.

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Courtesy of Giovanni Miceli

)

Atanase came to the U.S. in November 1988 at 12 years old with her family. She became a legal resident a year later, according to Miceli.

Miceli, a screenwriter from Chicago, said the couple met 13 years ago and live in a condo they own in Santa Clarita with their 10-year-old son.

Miceli said Atanase was visiting her family in Romania last year when her brother unexpectedly died. She went back to Romania in January to help her parents adjust to life without their son.

Miceli and their young son were waiting at the airport Sept. 4 when Atanase’s plane arrived. After an hour of waiting, Atanase texted Miceli to say she’d been pulled for a second interview with Customs and Border Protection. Two days passed before he heard from her again.

Janssen said green card holders like Atanase typically are allowed to stay in their country of origin for six months, no questions asked. Atanase was in Romania for about eight months, but Miceli said she was prepared to prove her legal status and explain her reason for staying abroad.

“Because there is a lot of fear right now with people flying and we wanted to be sure and cover ourselves,” Miceli said.

No communication allowed

When it became clear Atanase would not be released anytime soon, Miceli said he and his son spoke with immigration officials at the airport.

“Her son, 10 years old, was even up there by the window and said, respectfully, you know, ‘I would like to speak to my mommy,” Miceli said.

Immigration officials offered no explanation and would not allow any communication with Atanase.

“Separating myself from it, the way they treated everyone was horrible,” Miceli said. “Why do you have to be that way? I don’t understand it.”

Miceli hired Janssen the day after her detention, hoping she could help secure his fiancé’s release.

Janssen said she attempted to contact immigration officials at the airport who told her Atanase was not being held on criminal charges and, therefore, was not entitled to an attorney.

Janssen said a supervisor at LAX confirmed that Atanase was being held there.

Atanase was able to call Miceli on Saturday, but the call lasted just one minute and 57 seconds. Miceli said Atanase did not know why she was being held. She was still at the airport but told Miceli she expected to be moved to a new facility soon.

She called Miceli again Monday morning, this time from the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Facility in Bakersfield. She still wasn’t sure why she was being detained but thought it had something to do with the 2005 misdemeanor charge on her record.

Janssen was able to speak with Atanase on Wednesday.

Atanase told Janssen she was held at the airport for four days in a room with other women. The room was furnished with chairs and tent-like structures for them to sleep in. Atanase told Janssen she was only given snacks such as instant ramen to eat.

'It's been devastating'

Over the phone, Atanase described a notice to appear at a court hearing later this month. Janssen said she allegedly is being held because immigration officials have classified the misdemeanor charge, which Janssen described as a “domestic incident with her brother,” as a crime involving moral turpitude. Janssen declined to give more details about the incident.

Janssen said she has been unable to obtain a copy of the notice to appear or speak with anyone from ICE about the case. The Mesa Verde Detention Center told Janssen that Atanase had been moved to a new facility, but Janssen has so far been unable to confirm where.

Miceli said he hopes they will be able to secure his fiancée’s release so she can be with her family until she needs to appear before a judge. He said the experience has been difficult.

“Dealing with everything on my own, being a fiancé, being a father, being a worker, helping convey information from the attorney to the parents and Romania and doing all this stuff, it's been devastating.”