A Los Angeles high school student who has spent the last several months at an immigration detention center has been released ahead of the holidays.
Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, 18, was detained by immigration agents on Aug. 8 while he was walking his family’s dog in Van Nuys, according to Unión del Barrio, a community organization representing Latino people living in the U.S.
“His family has him for the holidays,” Rep. Luz Rivas said in Congress. “He should have never been detained.”
Rivas represents the San Fernando Valley, where Guerrero-Cruz lives. He was about to start his senior year at Reseda High School when agents detained him.
“This young man, all he was doing was walking his dog in the morning when he was detained,” Rivas said.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Guerrero-Cruz immigrated from Chile and overstayed his visa by more than two years.
DHS added that “he will have periodic mandatory check-ins” with law enforcement as his removal proceedings continue.
Rivas said the 18-year-old was held at the Adelanto detention center and briefly at an Arizona facility. The congresswoman said she was denied access to visit Guerrero-Cruz at least three times while he was being held at Adelanto.
“They said it wasn’t his visiting day,” Rivas said. “But what I told ICE was, I am not a visitor. I’m a member of Congress who is here to conduct oversight of this facility, and I have the right to visit my constituent.”
A recent study from UC Berkeley found that when President Trump began his second term on Jan. 20 to Oct. 15, ICE arrested nearly 75,000 people with no criminal records. The Trump administration said immigration operations target murderers, rapists and gang members.
“They didn’t even have a warrant for his arrest or for his detainment,” Rivas said. “It was for somebody else. It was mistaken identity … He’s not a criminal.”
