The Maryland woman arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in December and held for 25 days despite offering proof of citizenship has been issued a U.S. passport and removal proceedings against her in immigration court have been halted, her lawyers said in a statement Monday.

The issuance of a U.S. passport to Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales “is the most definitive proof that she, or indeed anyone, can produce to show the reality of their citizenship. And yet, this document is only verification of the truth. She was a citizen before receiving the passport, and she will remain a citizen thereafter,” Gunther Sanabria, president of the law firm representing Diaz Morales, said.

Sanabria said the Department of Homeland Security filed a request last week for dismissal before the Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR) in the removal proceedings. But, he added, Diaz Morales’s freedom “has an asterisk attached.”

“Given that the government only agreed to closing Dulce’s case ‘without prejudice’ it indicates they maintain the position that they can resume these proceedings against her at any time,” Sanabria wrote.

Lawyers for Diaz Morales said she would not comment at this time on being issued a passport or DHS’s decision to halt removal proceedings.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request from The Post to questions on why it requested to halt removal proceedings or whether it planned to renew removal efforts at a later date.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2026/06/02/woman-held-by-ice-25-days-despite-citizenship-claim-gets-us-passport/90370184007/