About ten days before she was due to return to Montenegro, a Montenegrin citizen who had lived in the United States (US) for five years went to Miami for a few days. On her way back to New York, she was stopped by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers, and instead of leaving the US the following week as she had planned, she left the same day.
The Montenegrin citizen, whose identity is known to the editorial staff, went to the US in 2021 through a cultural and educational exchange program, for which she received a J-1 visa. After the period during which she was granted residence ended, she remained in the country.
In the summer of 2026, she decided to return to Montenegro and bought a plane ticket from New York in advance.
Before returning, she went to Miami for a few days. As she told "Vijesti", she was stopped at the airport by ICE officers before her flight to New York and told that she had to leave the US.
She explained to them that she had already purchased a ticket to Montenegro and that she was supposed to travel in about a week.
According to her, she was offered the option of buying a new ticket immediately and leaving the country, or remaining in immigration detention until a previously scheduled flight. She decided to leave the same day.
She says that until the plane took off, she was in a room under the supervision of an officer. Her phone was taken away during that time, and she said that she had a television in the room and that she was offered food.
She asked the officers how they found her. As she recounted, they told her that they use a system that, after scanning a passport at the airport, sends an alert to the relevant services if it registers a problem with the passenger's immigration status, after which the information is forwarded to agents at the airport.
According to her, officials told her that it was a new system.
Before leaving, she signed a document in which, she said, she agreed to voluntarily leave the USA.
Documentation that "Vijesti" had access to shows that she accepted voluntary departure from the USA, which is why she had to buy a new ticket to Montenegro.
According to her testimony, the other option was to remain in immigration detention until the previously scheduled flight.
ICE's broader priorities since the start of Trump's second term
The treatment of US immigration authorities towards individuals who overstayed their authorized stay in the US has gained broader scope following the return Donald Trump to the White House in January 2025.
On January 20 of that year, Trump signed an executive order directing the federal administration to enforce immigration regulations against foreigners who, under US law, could be removed from the country.
The order also revoked a 2021 decision on which the policy of the former president's administration was based. Joseph Biden on priorities in the implementation of immigration regulations.
During the Biden administration, ICE resources were primarily focused on cases related to national security, public safety, and border security. The Trump administration expanded enforcement to include other individuals in the country without a regulated status.
ICE does not require a person to be convicted or charged with a crime for action. The agency can also take action for immigration violations, including overstaying your visa.
Trump's order also provides for the use of detention facilities for people arrested for immigration violations until their cases are resolved or they leave the country. The number of arrests and removals from the US has since increased significantly.
According to ICE data analyzed by the British Guardian, about 590.600 people were removed from the US between January 28, 2025, and July 11, 2026. This record includes removals carried out by ICE, but not those carried out directly by US Border Patrol.
July also saw the highest monthly number of ICE arrests since the start of Trump's second term.
The agency arrested 49.571 people that month, about 70 percent more than in February. More than half of those arrested had no criminal convictions or criminal charges, according to data analyzed by The Associated Press.
During Trump's second term, US authorities have also increased detention capacity and expanded ICE's cooperation with state and local police departments.
6.845 non-immigrant visas for Montenegrin citizens
State Department data shows that during fiscal year 2024, a total of 6.845 nonimmigrant visas were issued to Montenegrin citizens, of which 878 were J-1 visas.
Separate statistics are maintained by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which tracks the stays of foreign nationals that were due to end during a given year.
For Montenegrin citizens in the F, M, and J categories, which include students and exchange program participants, DHS recorded 1.699 stays in fiscal 2024 that were due to be completed during that year.
In 92 cases, overstaying of the approved stay was registered, which represents a rate of 5,41 percent.
In 15 cases, departure from the USA was recorded after the expiration of the approved period, while in another 77 cases, timely departure from the country or other change of status was not recorded at the time of conclusion of the report.
Data on visas issued and overstays refer to different records. The State Department counts visas issued during a given fiscal year, while DHS records stays that should have been completed during that year, regardless of when the visa was issued.
"Vijesti" requested data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the number of Montenegrin citizens deported or forcibly returned from the US from 2021 to 2026, including cases of overstaying and other violations of immigration regulations. The Ministry had not responded to the request by the time of writing.
The American service did not respond to questions about the number of Montenegrin citizens arrested, detained or removed from the US by ICE during that period, as well as the reasons for the removal.
The US Embassy in Podgorica, to which "Vijesti" sent questions about overstays, issued and revoked visas, and possible refusals of new visas after previous overstays, referred to publicly available State Department statistics on the website travel.state.gov.
Court overturns suspension of immigrant visas for 75 countries
In January, Montenegro was among 75 countries whose citizens the State Department suspended issuing immigrant visas to.
On January 14, the US State Department announced that it would suspend the issuance of immigrant visas to citizens of these countries starting January 21, citing an assessment that there was an increased risk that they would use welfare or become a burden on the state. Montenegro was among the countries affected by the measure. The measure did not apply to tourist, student and other non-immigrant visas.
That State Department decision was overturned on August 21 by Judge Janet Vargas of the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, finding it to be contrary to the law and to have been introduced beyond the legal authority of Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The court also found that the suspension, which denied immigrant visas based on the applicants' citizenship, violated the provisions of the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act that govern the issuance of visas and prohibit discrimination on the basis of citizenship. The decision also reversed denials of immigrant visa applications based solely on that policy, and those cases were remanded for reconsideration.
Following the ruling, the State Department confirmed on its website that the suspension of issuing immigrant visas to citizens of 75 countries effective August 21 is no longer in effect.
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