New York: Ill Woman Released From Detention

Late Tuesday, Andrea M. Mortlock, a terminally ill Bronx woman, was temporarily released from detention while an immigration judge decides whether the deportation case against her should be reopened. A legal permanent U.S. resident since 1979, Mortlock was ordered deported to her native Jamaica based on a 1987 conviction for selling cocaine. In a petition to the Organization of American States' Inter-American Human Rights Commission, which is reviewing her case, Mortlock said because she has AIDS and cannot access proper care in Jamaica, the deportation order was "tantamount to a death sentence." Bill de Blasio and Kendall Stewart of the New York City Council are today expected to introduce a resolution referring to the case and asking federal immigration officials not to deport immigrants when doing so would cause extreme hardship to the individuals, their relatives or community members.

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