FRESNO (KMJ) — What’s being described as a “kidnapping” in Los Angeles, is prompting renewed calls to force ICE out of Fresno County Jail.
The demonstration Friday morning was billed as a “Solidarity Day of Action” with Claudia Rueda, who was detained in May.
“When she was by herself, moving just her family cars, and they took her for a few hours. Her family wasn’t aware where she was at,” explains Brisa Cruz with the California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance.
“Eventually we found out she was taken by border patrol and sent to the detention center.”
The protesters met outside Fresno County Jail with signs to encourage Sheriff Margaret Mims to end the partnership with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, whose agents work within the jail to identify and potentially deport those found to be in the country illegally.
“As a community member that lives in Fresno and lives in Fresno County, I have a duty to tell her to stand with the community. The community she says she’s protecting, the community she says she’s representing…collaboration with ICE is unacceptable.
“She’s just in charge of the safety of people, not collaborating with ICE. So that’s not part of her responsibility and then having ICE inside the jail is not in agreement with the community.”
Brisa adds that there she has a personal involvement, as she too is undocumented
“I was a grantee for the DACA program, but yet that does not provide me with legal status whatsoever here in this country. But yet we’re still out here, we’re still calling out elected officials, we’re still holding them accountable.”
In a statement, Sheriff Margaret Mims reveals that the “partnership with ICE in the Fresno County Jail has proven to be an effective process to identify those with criminal records who should be taken into federal custody.
“We will continue to work together in order to keep everyone in our community safe. I continue to call on Congress to work with local law enforcement to pass comprehensive immigration reform to make our communities even safer.”
Hear the report from KMJ’s Dominic McAndrew as it aired:
