Family and immigration advocates gathered outside Pomona Court to demand release as three of the 10 undocumented workers arrested by US Customs and Border Patrol agents appeared in court on Tuesday.
Three arrested men from Guatemala were scheduled for bond hearings Tuesday morning, but the judge pushed the hearing back until Friday for unknown reasons.
One of the men in custody, Yoni Garcia, remained in the detention facility about 200 miles away, so his father, Bernard Garcia, begged him for release.
“The past two weeks have been a nightmare,” Garcia said, adding that he witnessed the arrest of his son by immigration officers.
Garcia also said that he was one of many workers looking for jobs in the parking lot of Home Depot in Pomona when several officers stood up and arrested on April 22. Garcia said he was in his car when it happened.
Two other men arrested last month, Jesus Domingo and Edwin Juarez, were also scheduled to hold bond hearings on Tuesday.
“The workers on these days are members of the community, they have been here for over two years and are just looking for work. This is a constitutional right in this country, like free speech.”
According to Theodore, only five of the undocumented immigrants who were arrested have been identified.
“I know that some people are being deported. There’s no transparency so I don’t know who is who,” added Theodore.
Jesus Domingo’s brother Ramon told NBC Los Angeles that the brother was arrested despite having no criminal history.
It is not clear that Yoni Garcia and Edwin Juarez have criminal records.
Video footage from a cell phone shot by an eyewitness showed that last month Homeland Security agents were running the operation targeting undocumented immigrants with aggressive arrest warrants.
“Some of the people arrested received prior charges including child abuse, fatal weapon assault, immigration violations and DUI,” federal officials told NBCLA.
Advocates requested that all three men and two other workers with private attorneys be granted bonds during the next court hearing on Friday.
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