Esther Ngoy Tekele, 24, expected the usual border procedure (aka not being arrested) when she got home to the United States on July 6 following a family wedding in Canada.
But after being taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities at the Highgate Springs Port of Entry, the Congolese-born Vermont resident, a green card holder, and mom of a two-year-old, has been locked up at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington since that time.
What started as a happy celebration very quickly spiraled into what her brother, Coco Ngoy, equates to as “a nightmare,” leading to allegations of racial profiling, legal confusion, and public outrage.
Esther has remained a quiet resident of Vermont for the past four years. She pays her taxes, has no convictions, and serves as the primary caregiver for her toddler and mother.
So why was she detained at all?
ICE Says Esther Ngoy Lied, Her Lawyer Says It’s Nonsense
Esther was taken into custody for allegedly “knowingly and willfully” lying about her relationship with her husband when she re-entered the country, claiming to be single when, in fact, she had tied the knot only four days before that, according to ICE. According to the agency, this was the reason why her green card was revoked.
Her attorney, Nathan Virag, calls ICE’s accusation “completely false.”
“This is a person who’s never been in trouble with the law,” he mentioned to NBC5.
He added that she “pays her taxes, strong community member, helps refugees and other folks coming in the country. (…) So, this was very uncommon. It’s very unheard of.”
Even more troubling, according to court documents, Esther had been held for several days. She had no way to contact her lawyer, which raises concerns about possible Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights abuses.
Family Slams ICE’s Racial Profiling
Coco, Esther’s brother, thinks that her race was a factor in her time in jail. He claims that after coming back from a wedding in Canada, the entire family was detained and made to wait for hours.
Coco told WPTZ, “I can say we were treated like slaves.”
“You could even tell from the body language — from the nonverbal language — how disrespectful (…) the officers were.”
Everyone in the family, except Esther, was told to leave after nearly three hours. Coco came back from getting her food after yet another lengthy wait, but she was gone. After a panicked search, he was able to track her down in a local jail with the help of U.S. Representative Becca Balint’s office and the nonprofit Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV).
“I can say we were treated like slaves,” the woman’s brother told a local TV news station. https://t.co/EOZwimmEcC
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 16, 2025
Esther’s situation has seriously impacted the immigrant neighborhoods in Vermont.
In an effort to secure her release from custody, which is expected to happen as early as Thursday evening, the Vermont Freedom Fund paid her a $7,500 bond, and AALV has started to raise funds for her legal representation.
In America’s immigration law enforcement debate, what started as an immigration screening has since grown into an even bigger flashpoint, especially as the issue involves a green card holder who has no priors.
Esther Ngoy Tekele, a 23-year-old Burlington resident from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was on her way home from a wedding in Canada with her family earlier this month when she was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
On Thursday morning, after 11 days behind… pic.twitter.com/tZ2gSfkjpy
— Seven Days (@sevendaysvt) July 17, 2025
Esther’s case is very comparable to previous ICE actions during the Donald Trump administration, which often invoked the controversial and rarely applied Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to deport almost 100,000 undocumented immigrants in its earliest days. This case begs a simple concern: How is a young mother with a valid green card and no criminal history a threat, even though current officials say they put “public safety threats” first?
“People who can make decisions, people who have the influence,” says Coco, “I’m just asking them to step up.”
