The whereabouts of a Charlotte mother and her 6-year-old daughter remain unclear after Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained them during what the family understood to be a routine immigration check-in. The family was pursuing asylum, and the father, identified as Anderson, is asking that their case receive another hearing, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Siembra NC identified the mother as Ydienays Dariana Dominguez and the child as Zoeh, a first-grader at Sugar Creek Charter School. The advocacy group said the family’s scheduled immigration-court hearing did not proceed because the judge failed to appear, after which a removal order was issued. Those details describe the family’s account as relayed by the advocacy group; the family’s current custody location and full court record have not been independently established in the available reporting.
Siembra NC also said the family later hired someone who presented themselves as a legal representative to appeal the removal order, but that person did not file the appeal. Anderson said his wife and daughter continued attending required appointments. The group said an ICE officer indicated that the pair would be transferred to Texas, but it had not confirmed a facility or location as of the reporting.
What the court rules may mean
The legal options depend on the type of order entered and the family’s filing history. The Executive Office for Immigration Review says a motion to reopen generally must be filed within 90 days of an Immigration Judge’s final order and must satisfy filing and evidentiary requirements: EOIR guidance.
If the order was entered in absentia because the family was considered absent from a hearing, EOIR says it generally cannot be appealed directly to the Board of Immigration Appeals. Instead, the person must ask the Immigration Judge to reopen the case, subject to applicable deadlines and requirements: EOIR’s BIA guidance. That rule does not establish whether it applies to Zoeh’s family.
The broader North Carolina context
Available data show the scale of ICE enforcement in Charlotte, but do not establish how many arrests resulted specifically from check-in appointments. Enlace Latino NC reported that ICE recorded 5,008 arrests in North Carolina between Jan. 1 and Aug. 5, 2026, including 1,564 in Charlotte, or 31.2% of the statewide total. The same analysis reported that 66.8% of those arrested had no criminal convictions: Enlace Latino NC.
That analysis also found that 73.8% of documented North Carolina ICE arrests in 2026 began while people were already in custody, usually after admission to a local jail and a subsequent transfer to ICE. The figure is broader than check-in detentions and should not be used to estimate the frequency of appointments leading to arrest.
Other cases illustrate different possible outcomes. The ACLU of North Carolina said an 18-year-old and his father were detained during a required check-in, held in Georgia and later granted bond; the son was released Aug. 7, 2026: the ACLU account.
In a separate case, ABC11 reported that a Durham family with children ages 11 and 6 was detained after advocates described a routine asylum appointment in Charlotte and deported to Honduras within 72 hours. The Department of Homeland Security disputed the advocates’ account, saying the family had received due process and had no pending asylum claims or immigration applications: ABC11’s report.
These cases are comparisons, not proof of a statewide trend in check-in arrests. They differ in family composition, procedural history, custody location and outcome. The available records likewise do not resolve where Zoeh and her mother are being held or whether their removal order can be reopened.
For now, Anderson and Siembra NC are seeking another opportunity for the family’s asylum case to be heard. The central unanswered questions remain whether the family has been transferred, what court order governs the case and what legal remedy, if any, remains available.
