Albanian mother, 3 daughters get reprieve

You can stay here.

When Albana Ndoci heard those words from a U.S. Immigration and Customs official, she closed her eyes and pictured what seemed impossible moments ago: Hugging her three daughters again.

“I was so nervous. Then they said to me, you can stay here. I was so happy,” Ndoci said as she walked out of ICE's downtown offices Tuesday.

“I thought about my daughters.”

The Yonkers mother of three, 40, said she welcomed the unexpected one-year reprieve of being torn from her family after a routine checkin with ICE officials. She said she feared imminent deportation after hearing about a string of family separations in the city and along the U.S. Mexico border in recent weeks.

ICE officials did not respond to a request for comment about her reprieve.

“I saw so many people holding each other and crying (after their ICE checkins). I walked out crying tears of happiness,” an elated Ndoci said. “They told me you can't leave while your kids are still in school. I was thinking about my daughters. (But) I have to return in a year.”

Immigration advocates say Ndoci has earned her right to live here. She left Albania 16 years ago, has a legal work permit and has been a dedicated mother to her three American-born daughters, ages 15, 12 and 6. Her two oldest suffer from severe illnesses, scoliosis and a heart condition, she said.

“My daughters need me,” she said softly, standing next to her middle child, Ana. “I can't leave them.”

A shy Ana held a sign that read “No Ban. No Wall. No Raids. NY is for All.”