( CNN ) -- An illegal immigrant who this week was awarded $ 200,000 in a lawsuit against a Tennessee sheriff 's office will ask a federal judge to grant her permission to remain in the United States legally , her attorney told CNN . A jury on Thursday awarded Juana Villegas the damages in a civil case against the joint government of Nashville and Davidson County in which she alleged that county sheriff 's deputies violated her rights when they shackled her while pregnant , while in labor and during her postpartum recovery . She had initially filed suit against federal officials , but the judge dismissed that part of the case . Now , her attorney , Elliott Ozment , says that he will ask the judge who oversaw the case to grant his client a U-visa , a special status that can be conferred on victims of crimes who are in the country illegally . The U-visa would allow Villegas -- a Mexican national -- to live and work legally in the country for three years , and can be renewed for another three years , Ozment said . During that period , she can adjust her status and become a legal citizen . It 's a long shot , as a U-visa has been awarded by a federal judge only one time before . Usually , they are conferred by other immigration authorities . `` We think the level of misconduct has risen to such a high level that she deserves a U-visa for what she suffered , '' Ozment said . `` She has been the victim of a terrible , terrible wrong . '' Consideration of Villegas ' fate comes as the Department of Homeland Security announces its intention to individually review roughly 300,000 pending deportation cases in federal immigration courts . Lower-priority cases -- those not involving individuals considered violent or otherwise dangerous -- will be suspended . Villegas ' story begins on July 3 , 2008 , when she was nine months pregnant and driving home with her three children from a doctor 's appointment in metro Nashville . A police officer pulled her over and , according to Villegas ' complaint , decided to arrest her for driving without a license because the officer suspected she was in the country illegally . The decision to arrest her was influenced by a controversial agreement between the police department and the federal government that allowed local officers to help enforce immigration laws , known as section 287 ( g ) of the Immigration and Nationality Act . She was transported to a detention center , where two days later , she went into labor . According to court documents , Villegas was taken to Nashville General Hospital where she was placed on a gurney with her hands and feet shackled . Once in her hospital room , two Davidson County sheriff 's deputies refused to leave the room while she changed into her hospital gown , and unplugged her phone so she could n't alert her husband about her labor , court documents say . Afterwards , one of the deputies shackled her left foot and right hand to the hospital bed , something that the medical staff called a `` barbaric '' violation of medical standards , court records state . The shackles were finally removed before she delivered the baby . `` During the trial she testified about how she was afraid for the safety of her baby , '' her attorney , Ozment said . `` She did n't know what to expect . She did n't know what was going to happen . '' After she had delivered the baby , and against doctor 's orders , a third deputy shackled her to the bed again , according to the court documents . The sheriff 's department 's policies that led the deputies to shackle her throughout the ordeal were a violation of the U.S. and Tennessee constitutions , her lawyers argued . In April , U.S. District Judge William Haynes ruled in favor of Villegas , and after a three-day trial this week , the jury set the $ 200,000 award . Villegas ' lawyers had asked for $ 1.2 million . Villegas also sued the U.S. government , alleging that she was wrongly arrested under the program . That lawsuit was dismissed . Villegas had once been deported from San Diego and returned illegally into the United States , and had lived here for years , her lawyer said . At the time of her arrest , her eldest son was 14 , and he had been born in the United States .
Juana Villegas sued a sheriff 's office for violating her rights . Deputies had her shackled before , during and after giving birth . A jury this week awarded her $ 200,000 . Now she wants a permission to live and work in United States .