Altadena woman detained by ICE during check-in appointment

ALTADENA, Calif. (KABC) -- An Altadena woman has been detained by ICE after her family says she went in for her annual check-in. They're now desperate for her to be released.

Riya Khan never imagined she'd be visiting her mother, Masuma Khan, behind bars. The 64-year-old has been held at the California City Correctional Facility since her appointment on Monday took an unexpected turn.

The family feels like they are running out of time. Now, their attorney and lawmakers are trying to get her released.

"She went in for her annual check-in, and that's when she was detained and taken," her daughter Riya said. "I am afraid that this place is going to break her."

Masuma, originally from Bangladesh, has no criminal history. She came to the U.S. on a visa in 1997 when her daughter fell ill while visiting family.

After overstaying her visa, Riya says her mother tried to get a green card but was taken advantage of by someone who claimed they could help.

"He took her money, and he was gone. She never got any notices, she never got any letters to appear in court or anything, so she was just unaware," Riya said.

An Altadena woman has been detained by ICE after her family says she went in for her annual check-in.

Since 2015, the Khan family has been working with attorneys on her citizenship as Masuma's husband, who is a U.S. citizen, petitioned for her green card.

"She is making efforts to attempt to regularize her status, and it seems, at least on the surface, that the only reason she was taken in is a blanket policy of being more strict," said Steven Ridgill, an attorney for the family.

That policy is adding insult to injury for the Khan family, who live in Altadena and were temporarily displaced for months following the Eaton Fire.

Their future is once again uncertain as Masuma's family grows increasingly worried for her health while she remains detained without vital medications. Riya says her mother has asthma, high blood pressure and is pre-diabetic.

"The goal is to just get her out as soon as possible... We're really hoping that someone like Adam Schiff or Judy Chu... can step in and intervene in some way, that things will go in the right direction," her daughter said.

"I've talked to her daughter and we are actively following up on this case," Rep. Chu told Eyewitness News. "We need to put pressure, and that is why it is good that we are doing it, and Senator Adam Schiff is also doing that... But also, we are pressing that there be a hearing, so that she can get out on bond."

Chu says Masuma's attorneys are trying to expedite her bond hearing, while she and her team have opened up an ICE inquiry, requesting that Masuma get access to her medications, her attorney or her immediate release while going through the legal process of immigration.

But, Chu says getting responses to her ICE inquiries in recent weeks has been challenging.

"Unfortunately, ICE has not been making responses to us because they say that, due to the government shutdown, they are not doing that. Whereas, in times past, they have given us some kind of response as to the cases that we've opened," Chu said.

Masuma's legal team has submitted a bond request, and they're asking for a reasonable bail. It could take up to 14 days for her to get a hearing. If granted bond, she could go home and wait for her immigration case and petition for citizenship to play out in the courts.