PINE CITY, N.Y. — One of the owners of Peanut, the social media-famous squirrel whose killing by New York wildlife officials became a 2024 campaign talking point, has been detained by immigration officers and could be deported to Germany, The Associated Press reported.
Daniela Bittner was arrested by immigration officers in mid-October at a small airport near New York’s border with Pennsylvania. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that she was arrested because she “chose to overstay her welcome in defiance of our nation’s laws.”
Her husband, Mark Longo, said she has been moved through several immigration facilities and is now being held in Texas. He blamed her detention on a mistake the couple made on one of her immigration forms during the uproar over Peanut’s seizure.
“You know, arrest the people who deserve to be arrested. My wife is not one of them,” Longo told the AP.
Peanut, also known as P’nut, was seized in 2024 after state officials received complaints that the couple was illegally keeping wild animals, including the squirrel and a raccoon. After the squirrel bit the gloved thumb of a wildlife biologist, it was euthanized so it could be tested for rabies.
The episode drew sympathy online and was seized on by Republicans, including JD Vance, who cited it at a rally before the 2024 election as an example of government overreach.
“They put Peanut on a pedestal, won their election, and threw him off that pedestal immediately,” Longo said.
Sources: KTAR News/AP. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Wilfredor / CC0 via Wikimedia Commons.
