A family in Maryland is trying to find a woman arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose attorneys say is an American citizen but the government insists is Mexican.

Agents arrested Dulce Consuelo Diaz Morales, 22, on December 14 in Baltimore while she was heading home with her sister.

Despite her saying she was born in the U.S., she was held in ICE custody after failing to prove citizenship, the agency said. Attorneys rushed to get a court order keeping her in Maryland, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) moved her to Louisiana anyway.

Speaking to the media Monday, attorneys representing Diaz Morales said they had not been able to reach their client, who they say has no criminal record, after being told by ICE to call the detention facility holding her earlier in the day.

“There is law here. There is law written. There are systems and circumstances of mandatory detention, this is not one of them,” Zachary Perez, supervising attorney at Sanabria & Associates, based in Maryland, told Newsweek Monday. “Not once has the government alleged to us in our communications that this falls under mandatory detention for X, Y, Z.

“It is irregular. She could have been released yesterday, she could have been released five minutes ago. We’re not seeing the government assert that there are criminal proceedings, for instance, or any additional charges that would necessitate holding her and transferring her, now twice.”

Her family has now been told she has been deported, despite U.S. District Judge Brendan Hurson ruling Thursday that she could not be deported pending a hearing. Perez and colleague Victoria Slatten said they had not been able to confirm Diaz Morales' whereabouts.

When the reports of her arrest began circulating, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin took to social media, posting on X that Diaz Morales is not a U.S. citizen, and that she had a removal order.

“Dulce Consuelo Madrigal Diaz is NOT a U.S. citizen--she is an illegal alien from Mexico,” McLaughlin said in a statement sent to Newsweek Monday afternoon, in a similar message to the one shared on X. “She did NOT provide a valid U.S. birth certificate or any evidence in support of her claim that she is a U.S. citizen.

“On December 14, ICE arrested this illegal alien in Baltimore, Maryland. On October 20, 2023, when CBP [U.S. Customs and Border Protection] encountered her near Lukeville, Arizona, Madrigal-Diaz claimed she was a citizen of Mexico and was born on October 18, 2003.”

Diaz Morales’ attorneys said Monday that they have verified her identity, confirming with the hospital she was born in Laurel, Maryland, and the local government in Prince George’s County that she had been issued a birth certificate and had been a patient in the early 2000s.

The attorneys shared redacted copies of the birth certificate and immunization records with Newsweek, but full documents could not be released due to pending litigation.

Newsweek asked DHS what evidence it had that Diaz Morales was not a U.S. citizen, and how her citizenship had been checked and verified. The department did not answer these questions directly, only providing the statement above.

Slatten and Perez said that details on the encounter with CBP were vague, given that they had been unable to communicate with their client, but that relatives had said this was when she made a return journey after fleeing to Mexico with family members when she felt she was in danger in 2023.

The attorneys said Diaz Morales was issued an order of removal by an immigration judge in January 2024, but added that it was invalid because she was a U.S. citizen.

Another potential issue that may have led ICE to detain and seek to remove Diaz Morales is her name, her attorneys said. Her parents have two different last names, and it is common for immigrants whose first language isn’t English to find American officials have inserted a hyphen between two names, or used a different name such as in the statement provided by DHS.

“I used to work for DHS. I have a lot of respect for the agency. I do not hate the government. I do not hate the agency. I have been very frustrated with them this week,” Slatten told Newsweek. “Something that I thought would be cleared up in a matter of hours, naively… This is evidence that should have been enough on its face to let her go. It is very confusing to me why it's been such a struggle.”

Now, the attorneys are battling to get in touch with Diaz Morales. Perez was told to call the Richwood Detention Center in Louisiana Monday morning for a meeting with her, but when he called, an agent said they would not and could not connect him to his client.

Perez said he had never experienced this, calling it “a new one,” telling Newsweek he did not understand how the chain of communication could be “so corrupted or warped” that he would be barred from talking to a client in this way.

It is not clear where Diaz Morales is. DHS did not answer Newsweek’s question as to whether she had been deported.

While there have been other reports of U.S. citizens being held for short periods of time, and cases where immigrants have falsely claimed to be citizens, Diaz Morales' case may be unique, her attorneys said, because they can prove she is who she says she is.

“She has a family, and she's very beloved, a hard worker, and I've heard nothing but good things about her,” Slatten said. “And I hope that the justice system does its job.”