San Diego Ukrainian woman detained at green card interview is released but still faces removal

Sitting next to her husband in their Rancho Peñasquitos home, Ukrainian mother Viktoriia Bulavina recalled Friday the tense moments she experienced being taken into immigration custody during a green card interview last week.

On Dec. 4, she was handcuffed in front of her husband, who is a U.S. citizen, and taken away by federal immigration agents at the end of her marriage-based green card interview at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services building in downtown San Diego.

She initially thought she would be released within hours while they verified her status. But she ended up spending five days in custody.

Bulavina was released from the Otay Mesa Detention Center on Tuesday.

“She cried, and she kind of trembled,” said her husband, Victor Korol, who was translating for her in an interview Friday, describing the moment she learned of her release. “She couldn’t believe it’s possible because some detainees are there for months.”

Her attorney, Caroline Matthews, with Pathway to Citizenship San Diego — a local nonprofit that provides legal services to immigrant families — said that the fight is not over, as Bulavina is still facing removal. She has a notice to appear in court later this month.

Matthews said that she filed a motion to terminate the proceedings and will seek ...