Nanny arrested by ICE at Philly airport released
Iliana Lick had a valid work authorization and a pending asylum application, but she had overstayed her visa.
A South Philadelphia babysitter, originally from Argentina, was released from ICE detention Monday after being arrested at Philadelphia International Airport last month.
Iliana Lick’s arrest made national headlines as the Trump administration steps up efforts to increase immigration enforcement at American airports.
» READ MORE: ICE arrests surge at Philly airport, including those of a babysitter and a senior citizen
Lick, 30, had been in Philadelphia since September 2024. She had a valid work authorization and a pending asylum application, but had overstayed her visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. She was arrested as she headed to Kansas City to watch Argentina play in the World Cup, transported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico instead.
“After nearly a month in custody, countless phone calls, legal proceedings, and several transfers across different states, this is a moment we have been praying and hoping for,” her boyfriend, Steven Melchiorre, 35, wrote in an update to supporters on Facebook and a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $18,000 for legal fees.
Though Lick’s release is a victory, the fight to stay in the country is far from over.
As a condition of her release on $10,000 bond, Lick had to surrender her passport and has to wear an ankle monitor.
Immigration advocates keeping track of those being arrested at the Philadelphia airport have said at least 10 people have been detained since mid-July. Of those, Lick is only the second to be released from custody.
Immigration advocate Vivian Chang, executive director of Asian Americans United, said the release of people arrested by ICE, whether at airports or during immigration check-ins, can be a crapshoot.
“You need like a CNN story and so many news articles, so much fundraising, all of that,” Chang said. “The vast majority of people can’t access that. They don’t get coverage, and that’s what the Trump administration is counting on.”
The Inquirer wrote about Lick’s case, and her story was most recently featured on CNN.
For its part, the Department of Homeland Security has said it is making sure undocumented immigrants are flying only to self-deport, offering them a $2,600 payment and a free flight home as an alternative to detention.
A New York Times report found instances of immigration arrests in at least 15 airports, with many of the cases getting follow-ups in local media markets.
Britni Zahodnick, who with her husband, Zane Schultz, has employed Lick as a babysitter for their two young children, ages 4 and 1, for more than a year, said she is grateful for the media attention.
When Zahodnick first learned of the arrest, she said, she was not seeing people talking about the issue on social media platforms. That changed in recent weeks.
In Philadelphia, people have rallied behind Lick, she said.
Donations have helped her to retain counsel, post bond, and pay for transportation back to her South Philly home.
Zahodnick hopes attention to cases like Lick’s highlights how immigration enforcement is affecting people who have deep roots within their communities.
“A lot of the campaigning on this increased enforcement of immigration was really around criminals, and it just hasn’t panned out that way,” she said.
