Attorney claims woman arrested at SLC Airport has legal work permit and a case to remain in US
Nov 3, 2025, 1:43 PM | Updated: 9:22 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — We’re learning more about a woman who was seen in a video online being arrested by immigration officers at the Salt Lake City International Airport last week.
Marta Leiva, 39, was seen in the video screaming for help as immigration officers walked her out of the airport with her hands behind her back in handcuffs.
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Leiva is originally from El Salvador, but has been living in the United States since 2007.
Adam Crayk, managing partner at Stowell Crayk LLC, is now representing her in immigration court.
Crayk told KSL NewsRadio that Leiva has a valid work permit that will remain valid until 2029. He said she had the permit on her person when she was arrested at the airport.
However, Crayk also said a judge signed a deportation order for Leiva, and that order supersedes her work permit. That means the agents who arrested Leiva at the airport were legally justified in doing so because they were fulfilling that order from the judge.
“A work permit does not necessarily give you, well most of the time it does not give you legal status,” Crayk said.
Escaping abuse, domestic violence
However, Leiva’s case is much more complex than the legalities regarding her arrest. Crayk said she fled to the U.S. initially to escape abuse and domestic violence.
She also has no criminal history outside of three traffic tickets. Crayk said she did initially cross the U.S. border without legal documentation, which is a misdemeanor offense in the United States. However, Leiva was never tried for that alleged offense in a court of law, meaning she’s innocent until proven guilty.
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Crayk also said Leiva’s ex-husband filed for asylum for himself and for her years ago, but the two were tricked into going through someone who isn’t licensed to practice law. Her ex-husband filed for asylum through a notary, which is a person or group that claims to offer legal services for immigrants, when they are not actually allowed to do so.
That group then listed Leiva’s address where she could be contacted in West Valley City. She has never lived in West Valley City. She has only lived in Woods Cross and Bountiful since moving to Utah.
This complicated matters further. Crayk said U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services tried contacting her through that address to let her know they set a date for her to have an interview. In that interview, she would plead her case for asylum. She never showed because she never got the notice.
A judge then eventually ordered her deportation, but Crayk said she didn’t get that notice either. So when she was arrested at their airport, she had no idea what was going on.
“In her mind, she was walking around that airport with a work permit on her person, thinking that she had the ability to be in the United States without being arrested,” Crayk said.
Leiva also has four children, all of which are U.S. citizens, and two of them have serious health issues.
What happens next
Crayk said he plans to argue in court that Leiva’s deportation should be canceled and that she should be allowed to stay in the U.S. for two reasons. First, he claims she was never notified about her asylum interview or deportation order. Notice is required under federal law.
He also plans to argue her deportation would cause undo harm to her two sick children, who are U.S. citizens.
If a judge grants a cancelation of removal for Leiva, Crayk said she would become a permanent U.S. resident, as if she was granted a green card, and could become a U.S. citizen further down the road.
However, if unsuccessful, Leiva is facing deportation to El Salvador.
As of Monday, she was in custody at the Salt Lake County Jail. She’s expected to be moved to an ICE detention facility in another state. It could end up being a facility in Colorado, but Crayk worries she could be sent as far away as Louisiana before she is removed from the country.
