ICE Arrests Turkish Woman at Jackson Bus Stop in ‘Shift in Tactic’

Feride Bardakci, a 26-year-old from Turkey, was zip-tied by plainclothes officers and driven away in an SUV from a bus stop on South U.S. 89 on September 15, while traveling between shifts at two Jackson restaurants. DHS said she entered legally near Atlanta in June 2023 on a J-1 visa with permission to stay until April 2024, and that “being in detention is a choice”; a search of court records turned up no criminal history. She was taken to the Natrona County jail in Casper, and her attorney, Elisabeth Trefonas, expects her to be transferred to Aurora, Colorado. Trefonas called the street arrest a shift in tactic: ICE had previously picked up roughly 200 people from the Teton County jail, mostly after driving-related arrests. Sheriff Matt Carr said ICE gave no advance notice, which he called a violation of protocol.