A federal judge has ordered the release of an Indonesian immigrant living on the Seacoast and detained by ICE.
Terry Rombot was one of about two-dozen Indonesians who were told by officials back in August that they had 30 days to buy plane tickets and leave the country.
They have been living in New Hampshire for decades after fleeing religious persecution, but they never received any official status.
Instead they had been living under an informal agreement with ICE, where they agreed to stay out of trouble and check in each month.
The Indonesians were at one of those check-ins when Rombot was detained.
Bill Hahn, Rombot’s lawyer, says ICE officer Timothy Stevens was asked by a federal judge why they only detained Rombot.
“Officer Stevens could not really articulate an answer to that. He said it was at the direction of someone higher up, but he could not articulate as to why that one person was detained."
Rombot spent about 3 months in prison before being released Wednesday.
He and the other Indonesian immigrants are still awaiting a decision on their immigration status.
