Teja Vasamsetty said she watched her mother, Venkata Vasamsetty, taken into custody during an ICE appointment in Charlotte.
"This is probably the lowest point in my life, honestly," Teja Vasamsetty said.
She said she remains focused on the moment her mother was detained.
"Standing there begging them, just saying, why are you taking her?" she said.
According to her family, Venkata Vasamsetty moved to the United States from India in 1999 and became a permanent resident in 2013. She built a life in Cary, worked as a Wake County substitute teacher, and raised her family there.
After returning to India in 2022, Venkata Vasamsetty became ill during the pandemic and was unable to return to the United States for several months. Her family said the Department of Homeland Security later accused her of abandoning her Green Card because of the delay. The family said that case was dismissed in May.
Teja Vasamsetty said her mother still had a scheduled ICE check-in in Charlotte that had been postponed until August. She accompanied her mother to the appointment, expecting it to be uneventful.
"It just keeps playing in my head: this will just take 30 seconds. They took her into a room and then put shackles on her, and she screamed," she said.
Since her detention, Venkata Vasamsetty has been held at a detention center in rural south Georgia, according to her family. Her daughters have traveled there as they seek her release and say they are concerned about her health because she has diabetes.
"She's deteriorating, and so my motto for the last two weeks has just been I need her out alive," Teja Vasamsetty said.
Immigration attorney Trey DeBrine of Sivaraman Immigration Law said cases like this are unusual for someone who is a permanent resident and that people are typically given notice to appear.
"Instead, what happened was she was detained at the check-in, and that is something that was meant to really surprise her and her family," DeBrine said.
ALSO SEE | Pregnant woman held for weeks in ICE custody after immigration lawyer scam
In a statement to ABC11, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson acknowledged that Venkata Vasamsetty had a Green Card but said she was "alleged to have later abandoned her status by violating her residency conditions."
The spokesperson also said, "Vasamsetty will receive due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of her removal proceedings."
The case has also drawn attention from Democratic U.S. Rep. Deborah Ross of North Carolina, who criticized the detention.
"I talked with her family in Georgia just this week; it is wrong what the government is doing to her. She needs to get out, and she needs to get out now; the entire community is behind her," Ross said.
Teja Vasamsetty said her family has been encouraged by support from people in Wake County.
"She is a grandmother, she's a special ed teacher, she's followed all the rules her entire life, she's not a criminal, and she doesn't check any of the boxes, so she's coming home," she said.
Venkata Vasamsetty's family said she is scheduled to have a bond hearing in Georgia on Thursday morning and hopes she will be released.
Download the ABC11 News app