ATLANTA — A US state senator’s Colombia-born wife who faced deportation was released yesterday after meeting with an immigration judge who lifted the deportation order.Sascha Herrera, 28, had gone into hiding after the order was issued, but arrived at the Martin Luther King Federal Building yesterday morning saying she was “doing the right thing” by turning herself in.

After a brief meeting with a sympathetic immigration judge and government lawyers, Herrera was released pending a hearing on a petition filed by her husband, Georgia Sen. Curt Thompson, to establish permanent residency for Herrera.

“I’m fine. I’m relieved,” Herrera said after emerging from the federal building hand-in-hand with her husband. “When I first came here I was very scared. I’m glad the government agreed to reopen my case.”

That hearing has not yet been scheduled, but her lawyer Charles Kuck said it could take up to four months before she appears back in immigration court.

Kuck said although the order was lifted Herrera is still technically in deportation proceedings.

Bird said the judge’s review of Herrera’s residency status could put her on track for a chance to become a US citizen.

She had been in hiding since Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrived at her home November 28 with an order to remove her from the US. She was not home at the time.

The deportation order stemmed from Herrera’s repeated failure to appear before a judge on an asylum application, which Kuck said she did not know had been filed.

Kuck claims she was duped by a man handling her immigration requests and that she never received the immigration notices.

Thompson, a Democrat and attorney, has been a strong advocate of immigration rights.

According to Kuck, Herrera came to the US — where her parents have been living — on a visitor visa in 2003.

She applied for an extension to the visa through a “notario” — a man who claimed he was qualified to handle legal immigration matters — but did not get it until 20 days before the extension was due to expire.

The notario then suggested an asylum application, which Herrera signed, but she got a “bad vibe” from the man and decided not to proceed, Kuck said.

Later in 2004, she was accepted as a student at Kennesaw State University, which got a student visa for her.

She met Thompson last year and they got married in April, when he applied for her to become a permanent resident.