ST. LOUIS (AP) — A Missouri woman who faced deportation to her native Thailand after a felony theft conviction will remain in the U.S. following a last-minute reversal by immigration officials.

Komdown “Dow” Boyer lost her green card after being convicted of stealing money from the restaurant where she worked. Boyer said the money was for her husband’s hospital bills from a workplace injury.

Boyer moved to the U.S. after her mother married an American soldier. She has two sons in the U.S. military.

Defense attorney Javad Khazaeli tells The Associated Press his client was taken Monday from a Missouri jail to an international flight leaving Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport before the decision was overturned. Khazaeli says the Department of Homeland Security has that discretion in some low-level offenses.

Agency officials didn’t immediately comment.