A Spokane mother originally from England was detained by ICE over a prior felony. A local judge had praised her progress minutes before

Moments after she was praised by a judge for turning her life around, Lauren Morris was arrested by immigration enforcement outside the Spokane County Courthouse.

Longtime partner Mitch Atkinson had picked up Morris with their 15-month-old daughter in the back seat. As soon as she entered the car, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers surrounded the vehicle and handcuffed the 38-year-old mother.

The pair had no idea her immigration status was at risk. Morris immigrated to the United States from England when she was 15. She has been a green card holder since 2012 and had hoped to get citizenship. Instead, she is imprisoned at the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center ahead of her possible deportation to England.

“I’m still in shock. I don’t know what to do. One minute we were a happy family on our way home and the next minute mom is just ripped away from us right in front of her child,” Atkinson said.

Since seeing her mother arrested by immigration enforcement, family members say, the toddler wanders the house with her hands behind her back, seemingly emulating the handcuffing, and calling for “mama.”

“My daughter understands that mom is gone, but that’s it. I mean, she doesn’t know why. I don’t really know why. Nobody knows why,” Atkinson said.

The reason behind the detention likely stems from a 2024 felony conviction of a violent crime. In some ways, Morris is exactly the type of person many believe should be deported under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown – someone who was convicted of a violent crime and who has struggled with drug use and keeping a job.

But the only victim of her misdemeanor and assault convictions is the man who wants her to stay in the country the most.

“She is an amazing mother. She is the best partner. She’s the sweetest human I’ve ever known,” Atkinson said. “We had finally got our lives going in the right direction, and now that is all gone.”

The pair were “pretty heavy into drugs” before the birth of their daughter, Atkinson admitted. Morris sometimes had violent outbursts when under the influence of drugs. They lived together in 2023 when during an argument she pointed a shotgun and threatened to kill him, according to court records.

The gun was never fired, but Morris was arrested and later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge that prevented jail time and a felony conviction. Under the conditions of her two-year probation, Morris was ordered not to have contact with Atkinson.

Following her misdemeanor assault conviction, Morris received treatment for drug addiction and maintained her sobriety. At some point, Morris and Atkinson reconciled. She moved back in and became pregnant all while the no -contact order was still in place.

In the spring of 2024, the pair got into an argument that ended with Morris threatening Atkinson with a kitchen knife and striking him with a small trophy, according to a police report.

Morris later pleaded guilty to a violation of the no -contact order, which had been upgraded to a felony because the violation involved a violent incident. She was sentenced to 25 days in jail and gave birth in a halfway house before returning to live with Atkinson.

“Things were kind of going off the rails, and she had gotten a little wild, and got arrested, and then she found out she was pregnant. She has been getting her life back on track ever since. We both have,” Atkinson said.

In her sobriety, Morris has also reconciled with her two other children from a previous marriage. They live in Montana and are 16 and 19 years old.

In February 2025, Atkinson requested the court vacate the no-contact order.

“Lauren has completed a D.V. course and is currently about to graduate from the Isabella house inpatient treatment facility. She has been sober for nearly nine months and thus poses no threat to me. We have reconciled and wish to raise our daughter together,” he wrote in the request.

That request was initially denied before being approved in September.

In his second request, Atkinson wrote he was “never fearing” for his life and the pair planned to marry in 2026.

Earlier this month, case manager Erik Phillips wrote Morris was in “full compliance” with the conditions of her parole.

“Mrs. Morris reports as instructed to DOC and is compliant with all conditions of supervision,” he wrote.

Last Wednesday, the couple attended a status hearing at the courthouse where Morris was praised for her rehabilitation, Atkinson said. It was immediately after that hearing when ICE detained Morris outside of the courthouse.

If ICE hoped to deport her to protect him, Atkinson said losing the love of his life and mother to his child would harm him much more.

“I’m completely lost. I’m a single father. I’ve been laid off. I don’t know what to do,” he said.

But her deportation will not be up to him. Legal permanent residents like Morris are typically not eligible for deportation, but there are several exceptions.

The deportation of green card holders has ramped up under the second Trump administration. In July 2025, the federal government expanded the number of offenses under which permanent residents could be deported to include even minor criminal offenses. Rules were also changed to allow the expedited removal of such permanent immigrants, which had previously only been allowed for undocumented immigrants at border crossings.

Under the new rules, any green card holder who has violated a protection order by issuing “credible threats of violence, repeated harassment, or bodily injury” is deportable under federal law. A permanent resident who at any time after being admitted to the United States has been a “drug abuser or addict” can also be deported.

While arresting Morris, ICE agents told Atkinson that her deportation was “inevitable.”

Morris has her first immigration hearing on Feb. 26. Atkinson is still hopeful the judge will release Morris and allow her to go home.

“Nobody has really told us anything. We don’t know what a judge could possibly decide. We don’t even really understand what there is to decide,” he said.