South LA Mechanic Arrested In Unlawful ICE Raid Caught On Video Won't Be Deported
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A South L.A. auto mechanic whose arrest by immigration agents was caught by security cameras last year will not be deported, the American Civil Liberties Union said Friday.
Video of rifle-wielding Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers descending on Juan Hernandez's auto mechanic shop on Sept. 25 was released late last year.
The Southern California office of the ACLU filed a lawsuit to prevent Hernandez's deportation in December.
They announced Friday that, along with the Law Offices of Stacy Tolchin, they had gotten the deportation order dismissed.
"We are glad the government realized it was in the wrong, but it never should have sought to deport Mr. Hernandez in the first place," attorney Eva Bitran said in the statement. "How many other unconstitutional arrests have led to deportations, simply because ICE's lawlessness wasn't caught on camera?"
In the lawsuit, the ACLU claimed the arrest of Hernandez was unlawful, citing the fact that the ICE agents present had vests labeled only as "police."
They also said that the "only thing the officers knew about Mr. Hernandez when they decided to detain him was his place of business and his Latino appearance."
The ACLU said in Friday's statement the "Hernandez motion pointed out that[...] his arrest 'violated governing regulations, [statutes] and the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution' that guards all in this country against unreasonable searches and seizures."
Hernandez was eventually placed in the Adelanto Detention Facility for five weeks until he paid the $5,000 bond, the statement read.
