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Mom Reunited With Children After Being Held By ICE For Weeks

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - A South Florida mother is back with her children after being held in ICE detention for weeks.

Roxanna H. is an undocumented immigrant.

She says she was trying to pay a ticket for driving without a license in Martin County when she was arrested in July.

"I never imagined I would be detained for trying to solve this issue," she said Friday.

Roxanna was reunited with her children, two sons and a daughter, recently after almost 2 months in ICE custody.

"She was eventually handed over to immigration authorities. She remained detained there for two months," said her attorney Jonathan Urrutia with Legal Aid Service of Broward County. "Two months in which she was away from her children. She only managed to see them once a week for maybe one hour, a little more."

Urrutia says a deportation order for Roxanna was issued back in 2014 because she failed to show up for a hearing because she was giving birth at the time.

She is currently out on bond thanks to help from the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES).

"My children were the most affected by this," she said.

And while they are together now, the mother of three worries they will be separated again because her case has not been resolved.

"We're very happy that we were able to get this family together because families do belong together," Urrutia said.

We've reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The agency says it cannot comment on this case at this time.

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