Activists Call For Release Of Grandfather Detained By ICE

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Immigration activists Thursday are calling for the release of of an undocumented Pasadena man who has been detained since his arrest by ICE agents last month.

Carlos Ortiz is being held at the Adelanto Detention Facility after he was arrested at his home on Feb. 9 by immigration agents who identified themselves as "police," the detained man's family says.

The agents asked for a man named "Rodrigo," according to Pasadena Now, and were told that nobody by that named lived at that address.

ICE agents then asked Ortiz for his papers, and Ortiz presented them with an identify card provided to Mexican citizens living outside Mexico, according to the news site.

Agents determined Ortiz had been previously deported in 1999 and arrested him, an ICE spokeswoman told Pasadena Now.

Ortiz's family says the grandfather was arrested in front of his wife and children.

Ortiz's daughter, who is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, is joining with advocacy organization Pasadenans Organizing for Progress on Thursday to call for Ortiz's release from the detention facility.

The group is holding a 4 p.m. press conference and vigil at Pasadena City Hall to call attention to Ortiz's case.