A judge ordered on Wednesday that Olivia Mabiala Andre, 19, be released by Friday, ending nearly six months in custody after her case drew national attention. The ruling came after her mother, Carine Balenda Mbizi, and siblings Joel and Estefania Andre had already been freed in March.
Andre had remained in ICE custody even after her family’s release, a split outcome that kept the teenager inside the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas while her relatives were out. Her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said she was “just overjoyed and ecstatic and going through a lot of emotions, but she’s getting out.”
The family’s legal fight has moved through several stages over the past year. Border Patrol said the family entered the United States illegally in 2022. After the family sought asylum in Canada on Nov. 12, they were taken into custody by U.S. Border & Customs Protection. A judge ordered the family’s removal in February 2025, and the appeal was denied in October.
Attorneys argued that the mother and the two high schoolers had to be released under the Flores Settlement Agreement, a standard that has shaped detention rules for children and some family cases for years. Even after that argument succeeded for the rest of the family, Olivia stayed behind, turning her case into the one that continued to draw public pressure long after the others were out.
That pressure sharpened this week. Rep. Chellie Pingree, who represents Maine’s 1st District, visited the Dilley Immigration Processing Center on Tuesday. Rachel Griffin Accurso, known as Ms. Rachel, also called for Andre’s release. Pingree said Andre’s release was “a testament to the power of public pressure, persistent advocacy, and the simple truth that no one seeking safety should be subjected to this kind of needless cruelty,” and added that ICE must free her without delay so she can be reunited with her family and begin to heal at home in Maine.
The order gives the agency until Friday to act, but the larger question is whether Andre’s release will finally close a case that turned a family separation into a national cause. For now, the 19-year-old is set to leave detention where she has spent nearly half a year waiting for the same outcome her mother and siblings already won.
