The case of Wayzaro Walton, who the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement has been trying to deport back to England since 2012, has made statewide and regional news, and has garnered the support of the state's top political leaders.

Leading Walton's fight, largely out of public view, has been Hartford-based immigration attorney Erin O'Neil-Baker.

Walton was released from federal detention in New Hampshire on Wednesday, but the nearly eight-year-long battle to keep her in the country she's called home since she was 4 years old continues. The government has tried numerous times to deport Walton for felony shoplifting and five misdemeanor convictions, despite a pardon from Connecticut. A gubernatorial-appointed board pardoned Walton, 35, but ICE only recognizes pardons that come directly from a state governor.

Walton's longtime lawyer said she made her client a promise to remain on the case, free of charge, until the very end.

No novice to well-publicized immigration cases, O'Neil-Baker has represented hundreds of clients in immigration disputes, including about eight well-publicized cases such as Walton's. One client, Guatemalan Joel Colindres, was the subject of the documentary "The Deported."

But O'Neil-Baker, a 44-year-old partner with the Hartford Legal Group, said she's received major pushback from government officials for defending Walton. While O'Neil-Baker would not name the officials or the government entities, she said more than one official has been critical of her via email and in telephone calls in a way that she sees as being unfair.

"The biggest challenge for me is to keep going when my professional reputation is being criticized," said the Hartford native, who switched from civil litigation to immigration law about 11 years ago. Today, she said, more than 95% of her work is representing clients in immigration matters.

"I was never threatened, but I was made to feel as if I should let the case go. It's just difficult to listen to people questioning my professionalism," O'Neil-Baker said. "Some people might think I've been aggressive in my litigation options."

But O'Neil-Baker said she will continue to zealously advocate  to keep her client, who is married and has a teenage daughter, from being deported. To date, O'Neil-Baker said she's probably logged more than 500 hours representing Walton. That representation has included oral arguments in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, status conferences with district courts in Connecticut, a stay-of-removal request every year, and more briefs than O'Neil-Baker can remember.

The attorney said she's learned a lot about herself in representing Walton, whose case garnered the support of Connecticut's U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, Attorney General William Tong, along with mayors and other political leaders.

"We've gotten a lot of bad decisions from the courts, including the Second Circuit, and from ICE themselves," O'Neil-Baker said. "I've learned that you never give up, never say no, and never close the door. I also learned you have to be creative with options, and to pursue many different angles, and to keep scratching the surface until you find an option that works."

O'Neil-Baker continued: "We've had about 20 decisions in the Walton case and maybe two good ones, but she's still here." O'Neil-Baker said she hopes the case is finally resolved in 2020, adding, "I'm in this for the long haul."

Walton is not in detention anymore, but she still has a removal order facing her from the government. The matter will most likely fall back to the Board of Immigration Appeals, O'Neil-Baker said.

The BIA is part of the U.S. Department of Justice. No one from the DOJ responded to a request for comment Monday.

Meanwhile, Tong has worked closely with O'Neil-Baker on the Walton matter and other similar cases.

"She is a very committed and dedicated public servant," Tong said Monday about O'Neil-Baker. "Apart from being a lawyer in private practice, it takes a lot of commitment to do the kind of work she does. She is an extraordinary lawyer. To do this work at the level she does it takes grit and toughness. She truly cares about her clients."

O'Neil-Baker graduated in 2000 from Seton Hall University Law School. She has been an attorney in Connecticut for about 20 years.

"I get to go home to my house everyday and I get to see my family," she said. "Knowing Wayzaro was in jail, even though she had a full pardon, kept me prodding and going forward to find a solution."

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