Norristown residents whose family members have been detained by ICE speak out

From Delco to Chesco and Montco to Bucks, what about life in Philly’s suburbs do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know!

Immigrant advocates said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has detained at least 25 people in the Norristown area since May 30.

Rose De La Luz said her cousin, Aziel De La Luz, and her brother-in-law, Maximino Garces Trinidad, were detained by ICE in May. Neither of them have criminal records.

On May 1, ICE, FBI and DEA agents stopped the car her cousin, Aziel, was in because of a broken taillight. Aziel was in the passenger seat. The car’s driver had legal status, but the agents “intimidate[d]” Aziel into speaking, De La Luz said.

She said Aziel is still detained, and wasn’t able to be there when his child was born this week.

“We are part of the society. We are human beings,” De La Luz said. “It’s just hardworking people that they’re picking up at this point … If there’s people in the process, if there’s people that don’t have criminal backgrounds or you weren’t even looking for them, why are you taking them? You’re just ripping them from the community, disappearing them.”

Jannet Navarro, a Norristown resident, said her brother-in-law, Wilfridro Rafael Ojeda Solis, was detained on his way to work on June 2, a day when there were multiple ICE raids in the area.

She described him as a “hardworking” man, with no criminal record and no bad habits. She said his family and many other families affected by ICE raids are devastated economically and emotionally.

“Es muy difícil vivir en miedo, no, estar con temor, con el terror de que al salir nos van a detener”, dijo ella. “Yo realmente estoy aquí para alzar la voz para todas estas familias”.

“It’s really difficult to live in fear, to be dreading, to be terrified that when we go out they’re going to detain us,” she said. “I’m here really to speak out for all of these families.” 

Navarro said from the videos she has seen, the ICE agents who detained him wore face coverings.

Philadelphia’s ICE office did not respond to WHYY News’ request for comment.

‘They are bleeding’

Denisse Agurto, executive director of Unides Para Servir, an immigrant-serving organization in Norristown, said people are scared to leave their homes, and the fear of ICE raids is having an impact on people’s mental health.

“Our communities [are experiencing] this nightmare. They [are] living in fear,” Agurto said. “They really can’t go out. So our community is really … I can say they are bleeding. That’s my word for everything, they are bleeding.”

For the past several months, Agurto and other advocates have been pressing Montgomery County commissioners to pass a welcoming county act.

Advocates say a key part of the act is ensuring the Montgomery County Correctional Facility changes its current policy of holding people with ICE detainer for up to four hours after they posted bail, allowing federal agents to come and detain them.

That’s what happened to Andrea Lozano-Alanis, 31, who was held on an ICE detainer at Montgomery County Correctional Facility the night of June 6 after posting bail. ICE agents came to detain Lozano-Alanis, originally from Mexico, before the four-hour window expired. According to Agurto, Lozano-Alanis is currently being held at Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Central Pennsylvania, and is concerned about her 6-year-old son, who is autistic.

“She was like, I need to be strong for him, just for him,” Agurto said Lozano-Alanis told her.

Agurto said Lozano-Alanis’ case is an example of why she and other advocates are pushing county commissioners to pass a welcoming act, which, among other policies, would end the four-hour hold policy at the correctional facility.

“We need it now,” she said.

In May, Democratic Commissioners Jamila Winder and Neil Makhija committed to not signing any 287(g) collaboration agreements with ICE, and have expressed their support for a set of policies to support the county’s immigrant communities. But they have not committed to passing the welcoming act.

Makhija earlier told WHYY News his position is that the correctional facility should only honor judicial warrants from ICE, not detainers. According to Agurto, Lozano-Alanis was held last week on a detainer, not a judicial warrant.

In a statement, the county said it is “aware” of Lozano-Alanis’ situation. “While we cannot comment on specific details of an individual case, MCCF officials had followed the policies that have been in place since 2014 regarding custody procedures when an individual has a detainer lodged against them by Immigration and Customs Enforcement,” the statement read.

The statement went on to note a forthcoming policy change announced at Thursday’s prison board meeting.

“When effective, MCCF will no longer honor administrative requests, including ICE detainers,” the statement read. “MCCF will require a judicial warrant before providing information about an individual’s release to ICE or any other authority.”

At the most recent board of commissioners’ meeting, Makhija urged community members and advocates to speak with Nelly Jiménez-Arévalo, the county’s first-ever director of immigrant affairs, and propose policies to support the county’s immigrant communities.