BREAKING The Nurse ICE kidnapped at Boston’s Logan Airport is free — released one day after more than 100 nurses and supporters rallied outside her hospital demanding it.
Debora Kapisha is 28, a first-year medical-surgical nurse at Maine Medical Center in Portland, and an asylum seeker from Zambia. ICE agents took her into custody on July 30 as she traveled through Logan. She spent a week locked up.
She is legally authorized to live and work in the United States while her asylum case is processed. An email from MaineHealth said her work authorization runs until 2030.
ICE called her “an illegal alien” who overstayed a visa that expired in November 2024, and said “any pending application does not confer legal status.” The same statement pushed her toward self-deporting, offering $2,600 and a free flight out
Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, who announced the release, pointed out what that framing leaves out. “It can take 10 YEARS or more for some asylum cases to be adjudicated,” she wrote. “Also, you can’t renew a non-immigrant visa while your asylum is pending!”
ICE was preparing to move Kapisha out of Massachusetts to a detention facility in Louisiana, far from her attorneys and everyone she knows. The Maine State Nurses Association put a press conference and rally together in under 24 hours. The transfer was called off.
Her coworkers wrote her more than 100 letters while she was inside. “She’s the kind of person who notices when someone is struggling and steps in to help without hesitation,” said Abbey Nelson, a nurse who works with her.- Josh Helfgott