Over the past year, WMRA has been following the saga of one young family from Central America caught up in federal immigration policy. This spring, the father was released after spending nine months in the Caroline Detention Facility – but the family's future remains uncertain. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Listeners may remember the previous stories WMRA has reported about a young couple, Olman and Leyla, who escaped horrific gang violence in Central America and settled in Staunton in 2023. Olman survived a brutal arson attack and subsequent death threats in their home country before he, Leyla, and their first child fled north. They began building a life in the U.S., and celebrated the birth of their second child. Olman was detained at a voluntary check-in at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in June 2025, despite having no criminal record.
For the first time, we finally got to speak to him in person.
OLMAN: Mucho gusto, para los que aún no saben a mi, mi nombre es Olman.
His kids, ages two and nine, played in the background while we talked. Louella Hill, who helped start a local immigrants' aid organization called La Familia Fund, translated for us. As in our previous reporting, we've withheld the family's last name and exact country of origin due to their fears of persecution if they are forced to return.
OLMAN (as translated by LOUELLA HILL): I'm thankful for all the people that have supported me and allowed me to come home. … It was an extremely difficult situation to be away from my wife and away from my children. … We had no idea when we would be together again, and it feels like it was the work of angels that brought us together.
Olman was held at the Caroline Detention Facility for nine months. During that time, his application for withholding of removal was denied – that application is, essentially, asylum for those technically ineligible for it, yet credibly facing persecution if returned to their home country. He appealed this decision in November, and that case is still open. The detention was difficult for him to talk about.
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): The detention situation was horrible, and nearly indescribable to say how it was. … I was able to speak with my wife and my children every day, and that's what kept me going.
During this time, Leyla's asylum case, which also applied to their nine-year-old daughter, was opposed by the Department of Homeland Security, and the immigration judge ordered that they self-deport by April. They have appealed this outcome, which has allowed them to stay in the country for now, although in a precarious legal situation.
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): I was not the only one suffering. It was so much suffering for my wife and for my children in this time when I was in detention.
Olman's incarceration was indefinite until the couple got a new attorney who filed a successful habeas corpus petition – a way to challenge detention as unlawful. ProPublica reports that detained immigrants across the country have filed nearly 60,000 such petitions since January 2025 – more cases than were filed in the past three administrations combined.
A federal judge ruled that the government should not have held Olman longer than six months, since he had an ongoing immigration case, and they had no evidence he posed any risk to the community. The judge also noted that DHS appeared to falsify a notice that they claim was served to Olman before he was taken into custody, "which is consistent with federal respondents' habit of issuing such notices retrospectively and only after detaining a noncitizen."
The judge ordered Olman released in March. Olman had a prophetic dream the night before he was notified.
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): I had a strange dream one night that I was going to get out. … I just had to keep faith, and a day later I woke up at my normal time, seven o'clock, for breakfast, and I was going to eat the milk and cereal when someone said to me "you have a phone call in the office." … I walked in, and there was an immigration official and he said I had to sign some papers.
He didn't want to, at first – they were written in English, and he thought they might be deportation papers. Once an officer translated the documents for him –
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): I was crying so much, but it was happiness. I couldn't believe that it could happen that I could be with my family again. … The moment when I came into the house and I saw them, my wife and my children again, I just knew I could never leave them alone again.
Almost four months later, he's mostly back to a normal life – working construction and spending time with his family. But there was a dark adjustment period.
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): I wasn't psychologically okay. … I was pretty confused, like I was scared to leave the house. … But the warmth of my family, and the love of my wife, it helped me come back. It helped me feel okay again.
The future remains in shadow, though – their immigration appeals are still in the hands of the courts. DHS has appealed Olman's release. And later this year, Olman has another ICE check-in at the same Richmond office where he was detained over a year ago.
OLMAN (as translated by HILL): My goal is for me to never be separated from my family again. The truth is, I have an appointment coming up, and that just strikes fear in my heart.
La Familia Fund is collecting donations for the legal fees of this family and others affected by immigration policy. Checks can be written out to Trinity Episcopal Church in Staunton, with a memo designating the donation for La Familia Fund.
