Nashville Noticias journalist Estefany Rodriguez Florez is back home after spending 16 days detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She was released after her legal team secured a $10,000 bail bond, allowing her to reunite with her family following her detention at a facility in Louisiana.
Attorney Mike Holley, who represents Rodriguez Florez through the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, confirmed her release in a statement. “Today we celebrate that Estefany has been released from the ICE detention center in Louisiana and is back home with her family,” Holley said. He added that her release also allows her legal team to update federal Judge Eli Richardson on her condition as the case moves forward.
Her attorneys are continuing to pursue a habeas corpus petition that was originally filed on March 4. The petition challenges both her arrest without a warrant and what her legal team describes as retaliation against her for exercising her First Amendment rights. Beyond seeking her full and permanent release, the legal action also asks a federal court to issue an order prohibiting ICE from carrying out similar conduct in the future.
The case has drawn significant attention across Nashville’s immigrant community and local media circles. Rodriguez Florez remains determined to stay in her community and in the United States as the legal process continues to unfold.