Albanian mom-of-three with no criminal past is deported without getting to say goodbye to her children after 18 YEARS in the U.S. 'and couldn't phone her husband until she got to Germany'

  • Cile Precetaj, 46, was arrested on April 26 when she filed for a stay with the ICE office in Detroit
  • She is an Albanian mother-of-three American born children, ages 8, 10, and 16, and, she has no criminal record 
  • Cile sought asylum in the US in 2000 citing criminals who wanted to kidnap her and turn her into a prostitute  
  • She avoided deportation in '05 and has since filed several appeals to stay 
  • Her husband, Pete Gojcaj, is a Yugoslavian immigrant who has lived in the US for 30 years and owns a restaurant 
  • He says they were not given a chance to say goodbye and he was only notified that she was removed when she landed in Germany on her way to Albania
  • Cile's case is currently on appeal in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals

A married mother with three American born children and no criminal record was deported back to Albania Wednesday, and her husband says she wasn't given the chance to say goodbye.  

Cile Precetaj, 46, was arrested recently when she filed for a stay during a routine monthly visit to the Detroit ICE office on April 26.

Her husband, Pete Gojcaj, said he was told he would be given a heads up if his wife was removed from the country.

'My kids are devastated. They can't stop crying,' Pete Gojcaj told the Detroit Free Press Thursday. 'My children are traumatized.'

Cile Precetaj, pictured with her husband Pete Gojcaj,  was arrested during a regular visit to the ICE office in Detroit on April 26

Cile Precetaj, pictured with her husband Pete Gojcaj, has no criminal record, and was arrested during a visit to the ICE office in Detroit on April 26 

Pete says his family (Cile & Pete with their three American born children, pictured) was unable to say goodbye to Cile before she was deported as he says they were not notified she was being removed 

Pete says his family (Cile & Pete with their three American born children, pictured) was unable to say goodbye to Cile before she was deported as he says they were not notified she was being removed 

Pete says his wife was not given the chance to say goodbye to him or their children, and only learned she had been removed when she called him from Germany on Thursday morning at 4am, saying she was en route to Albania with two ICE agents. 

However, Khaalid Walls with the ICE office in Detroit tells DailyMail.com that the family was in fact notified that she was scheduled for removal.

Walls says 'The family was notified of her impending departure several days prior to her removal and turned over her luggage and other personal items to ICE.'  

Additionally, regarding Cile's case ICE adds that 'in June 2005, Ms. Precetaj, an unlawfully present national of Albania, was ordered removed from the United States by a federal immigration judge.'

However she had appealed to the Board of Immigration Appeals and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

'Ms. Precetaj’s final order of removal from the lower court was ultimately upheld. For more than a decade between 2007 and 2018, ICE allowed Ms. Precetaj’s to remain free from custody while exhausting all of her legal options for relief.'

'On April 26, Ms. Precetaj again filed a stay with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals,' adding that 'ICE focuses its enforcement resources on individuals who pose a threat to national security, public safety and border security.'

ICE adds, 'However, ICE no longer exempts classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States.'  

Cile gave an interview before she was deported asking for people to pray for her and her family

Cile gave an interview before she was deported asking for people to pray for her and her family

Pete is a Yugoslavian immigrant who has lived in the US for 30 years and owns a restaurant. Their children are ages 8, 10, and 16.  

Cile first applied for asylum in 2000, saying that dangerous criminals in Albania wanted to kidnap her and turn her into a prostitute.  

'I want people to pray for us,' Cile said in a phone interview with the Free Press before she was deported.

'We never did any crime. We just came here to this country to have better life and better education for our kids. That's the only reason we came here and I pray to God it's going to work out.'


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