The Guardian's front page reported that a community rallied to support a Los Angeles teenager who was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement while walking his dog.
A community in Southern California called for the release of a high school student who was arrested by U.S. Immigration Service agents while walking his dog earlier this month.
Benjamin Marcelo Geronimo-Cruz was supposed to start his senior year at Reseda Charter High School this month. But just a few days after his 18th birthday, immigration and customs enforcement agents wearing masks detained him while he was walking his dog in the Van Nuys community of Los Angeles, and his family called it an abduction.
Educators and advocates held a rally to draw attention to Geronimo-Cruz's detention, demanding his release and calling on local officials, such as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, to respond about the unmarked vehicle and an immigration and customs enforcement processing center in Adelanto, an hour and a half north of Los Angeles.
She said that Geronimo-Cruz told a terrifying story of being surrounded by masked men while walking his dog, then being handed over to federal agents, and taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in downtown Los Angeles. This incident occurred as Donald Trump's crackdown on immigrants continued in Southern California, with thousands of people arrested this summer at workplaces, stores, and near schools.
Another former teacher of his, Lexi Besele, visited Geronimo-Cruz. Two of Geronimo-Cruz's teachers also spoke at the rally, talking about the 18-year-old boy's motivation and determination to graduate despite having only recently arrived in the United States. The Los Angeles Unified School District, which has nearly 800 schools throughout the county, has adopted new strategies to protect students, "ensuring that schools remain safe and supportive places for all children and families - regardless of immigration status."
Plainclothes, masked men took him away on a morning in August. He wasn't allowed to shower or brush his teeth for a week, Besele said. The agents let his dog run loose and treated Geronimo-Cruz like a criminal, even joking when they arrested him, his family said on a GoFundMe. "How can we ignore the cruel and unjust treatment that is happening right before our eyes? Benjamin is important, his rights are important," said Valerie, a neighbor of Geronimo-Cruz, at a press conference on Tuesday, who saw him in the unmarked truck before his detention.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1841070684353536/
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