Armelle Bondonga was taken into ICE custody last week when she and her husband appeared for a routine immigration interview. (Nicole Hayden)Armelle Bondonga, the 21-year-old Louisville woman taken into immigration custody earlier this month while at a green card interview, remains at the Clark Coun ty Jail after an immigration judge did not proceed with her bond hearing this week.Her legal team is pursuing other options to get her released.Immigration Judge Wayne Warf said during the Monday hearing the Department of Homeland Security has jurisdiction over Bondonga’s case because of a previous removal order against her that he said was “administratively final.” Her legal appeal to that order was dismissed earlier this year due to filing issues, but attorneys have asked the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider her case.According to the judge’s order posted online by Bondonga’s supporters, her removal order became administratively final when the Board of Immigration Appeals denied her appeal and when the immigration judge’s removal order was affirmed. Because that order is final, Warf’s order states, Bondonga is subject to mandatory detention.He wrote that “while DHS may release the individual on an Order of Supervision, they are no longer eligible for an immigration court bond.”Bondonga came to the United States as a child in 2013, and the removal order is related to her family’s asylum case. She does not have a criminal record.Arianit Osmani, who represented Bondonga at the hearing, said during the proceedings he was not asking the court to halt the underlying removal order but to grant her release from jail.He also asked for consideration of Bondonga’s family’s circumstances: She has been separated from her husband, a U.S. citizen, and their young son since being detained Aug. 12. Osmani said there is no public safety concern and the family would ensure she follows the rules as the immigration process continues.Bondonga appeared for the virtual hearing from the Clark County jail, which holds people for ICE. She was dressed in gray and wore glasses. She was seated during the hearing, and did not address the court. Jail records show she was in custody there as of Tuesday morning.Bondonga’s legal team also includes Hishem Alsalman, Democratic Kentucky state Rep. Nima Kulkarni and community advocate Sadiqa Reynolds.Kulkarni said Tuesday the hearing this week is one piece of Bondonga’s situation, and that her attorneys have filed multiple petitions and motions on her behalf.“It was the initial bond hearing, and she's got several different avenues, even for repeated bond hearings in the future,” Kulkarni said. That includes a habeas corpus petition filed in federal court that is not part of immigration court.Kulkarni said Bondonga will not be removed while the habeas case is proceeding, and that other motions intended to keep her in the county have also been filed with agencies including ICE and the Board of Immigration Appeals.Kulkarni said Bondonga is still eligible for a green card, and would likely have gotten one had she not been arrested at the final interview.Reynolds said in a social media post that when she got to talk with Bondonga Monday, she asked Reynolds about her baby and husband, and talked about other detainees she’s worried about.Reynolds said they started off focusing on the hearing, then Bondonga asked if they could pray.“She took my hands and prayed for her family, my family, for every prisoner, and every guard,” Reynolds said.Reynolds described Bondonga’s case as a “procedural battle,” and said her legal team would continue pursuing other motions they had previously filed.Coverage of Southern Indiana is funded, in part, by Samtec Inc., the Hazel Walter T. Bales Foundation, and the Caesars Foundation of Floyd County. ...read more read less