Filipina Green Card Holder Becomes U.S. Citizen After Three Months in ICE Detention

A Filipina who spent three months in immigration detention despite holding a green card has become a naturalized U.S. citizen, marking a dramatic turn in an immigration case that drew attention in Washington state.

Lewelyn Dixon, 66, known to family and friends as “Aunty Lynn,” took the oath of allegiance in July after living in the United States for more than five decades.

Originally from the Philippines, Dixon came to the United States when she was 14 and has worked as a laboratory technician at UW Medicine.

Her naturalization came more than a year after she was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while returning to the United States from a trip to the Philippines.

Dixon was arrested at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in February 2025, even though she was a lawful permanent resident.

Immigration authorities cited a nonviolent embezzlement conviction from 2001 as the basis for her detention. Dixon had already served a 30-day sentence in a halfway house and paid a $6,400 fine in connection with the case.

She was held for about three months at an immigration detention facility in Tacoma.

In May 2025, an immigration judge ruled that Dixon should not be deported and ordered her release.

Family members, co-workers and friends were waiting outside the detention center when she was released.

The experience prompted Dixon to apply for U.S. citizenship almost immediately.

Over the following year, she completed interviews, passed the citizenship examination and waited for final approval.

In July, on her 66th birthday, Dixon officially became an American citizen.

Her family celebrated the ceremony by placing a light-up star necklace around her neck and a red, white and blue cowboy hat on her head.

The naturalization ceremony included immigrants from different countries taking the oath of allegiance and formally becoming U.S. citizens.

Dixon’s case drew attention because she had lived legally in the United States for decades before being detained over a conviction that dated back more than 20 years.

Now that her immigration case and citizenship process are behind her, Dixon is preparing for retirement and plans to spend more time with relatives and travel.