HOUSTON, TEXAS — Stephanie Kenny-Velasquez was released Tuesday from an ICE detention facility in Houston after a federal judge ruled that her due process rights had been violated when immigration officers detained her. Kenny-Velasquez, a Venezuelan asylum applicant, had spent four months in detention and gone through several court hearings before her release.

Her husband, Chris Busby, a 28-year-old U.S. Army Reserve Black Hawk pilot, stood outside the detention center with flowers, waiting to hug his wife for the first time that year. "I just can't believe it. We've waited so long," Busby said.

Kenny-Velasquez was detained in December, two days after marrying Busby. She had applied for asylum and had been released into the United States in 2021. During her detention, Busby reached out to lawyers, media and his former Army Reserve commanders to try to free his wife. The couple lives in Austin, Texas.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Kenny-Velasquez's claims will be heard in immigration court and will receive full due process. The spokesperson also said her pending asylum case does not grant her legal status in the U.S. and that she was released under the Biden administration.

Kenny-Velasquez shared a large room for several months with about 60 detainees who speak a range of languages. The detainees included women from El Salvador, Honduras, Cuba, Vietnam, Russia, Romania and China. They slept in bunk beds and shared a bathroom without doors for showers and toilets.

Detainees woke at 4:30 a.m. for breakfast, which usually consisted of oatmeal and bread, and spent the rest of the day reading, talking or cleaning. They had to be awake at 10 p.m. for the final head count. Kenny-Velasquez said she endured multiple anxiety attacks during her detention.

"I was in shock. I'm still in shock. I'm just trying to process everything," Kenny-Velasquez said after her release. She also described the women she left behind: "There's people with family, with kids. I feel bad because I'm here and they're still inside."

The oldest detainee she met was a 72-year-old woman from Venezuela who had difficulty accessing medication on several occasions. A DHS spokesperson said detainees receive medical, dental and mental health care within 12 hours of arriving and have access to 24-hour emergency care.

"It's called survivor's guilt," Busby said of his wife's feelings about the other detainees still inside.