A 23-year-old woman identified as Ana María has described her experience in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention that led her to voluntarily request deportation to her native South American country, despite having a pending asylum case.

According to Ana María's account, she had been living in the United States with an open asylum case working its way through the immigration system. She was employed and living with her boyfriend as part of a local community before her arrest by ICE.

During her months-long detention, Ana María says she experienced treatment she characterized as humiliating, including being shackled and transferred between facilities. The conditions reportedly became so difficult that she ultimately requested to return to her home country voluntarily.

The decision meant leaving behind the life she had been building in the United States and returning to what she described as dangerous conditions in her native country. Her asylum case had been proceeding through official immigration channels at the time of her detention.

ICE has not responded to requests for comment regarding the specific allegations about detention conditions. The agency manages immigration detention facilities across the country as part of federal immigration enforcement operations.