Daniela Bittner, the German-born wife of Mark Longo — the New York man whose pet squirrel Peanut became a national flashpoint after state wildlife officials seized and euthanized the animal in 2024 — has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Bittner was arrested in mid-October at a small airport near New York’s border with Pennsylvania, according to The Associated Press. She and Longo, married four years, were reportedly on their way to a TikTok event when officers approached them, the New York Post reported.
Longo said the detention traces back to an error on one of his wife’s immigration forms that went unnoticed while the couple was consumed with the fallout from Peanut’s seizure and killing.
“She came into this country legally on a visa. We filed the paperwork and stuff and apparently the government is saying we filed the wrong piece of paper,” Longo told The Post. “They had asked for additional information, which we provided, and then apparently they sent a letter stating that it was denied because we filed the wrong paperwork, which we never received.”
“This is a minor paperwork issue and it’s being treated as if my wife literally crawled out a hole to get into this country,” he added.
Longo said Bittner has no criminal history but was hit with the maximum penalty, which could mean deportation without a hearing, The Post reported. The couple married in 2022, shortly after Bittner returned to Germany to resolve a visa issue.
The Department of Homeland Security told The Post that Bittner lawfully entered the United States several times between May 2021 and November 2022, each time granted permission to stay only temporarily. DHS said she was arrested because she “chose to overstay her welcome in defiance of our nation’s laws,” adding that “a pending application does not confer legal status in the United States.”
Since her arrest, Bittner has been moved between detention facilities — from Syracuse to Buffalo, then on to Louisiana and eventually Texas. Longo described the conditions she has faced in federal custody as “deplorable,” according to The AP.
Animal rescue in limbo
The detention has thrown the couple’s nonprofit animal sanctuary into doubt. Bittner reportedly cares for roughly 600 rescued animals at the operation.
“If my wife gets deported for a paperwork issue, we will lose EVERYTHING we worked for. Our Nonprofit Animal Sanctuary will close and 600 animals will have to find another home. All we wanted was to be left alone. We finally moved on from the tragic murder of P’Nut, now to this,” Longo said.
The couple first drew national attention in 2024 when New York wildlife officials seized and euthanized Peanut, the pet squirrel Longo had raised since it was five weeks old after its mother was reportedly struck and killed by a car. Peanut had become a viral social media sensation with a large online following, and his death sparked widespread public outrage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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