STATE
Santa Fe families recount ICE arrests
Relatives and elected officials criticized recent immigration arrests near medical appointments as protesters rallied in Santa Fe
SANTA FE 鈥 Two relatives of people whom federal immigration agents arrested Wednesday in Santa Fe spoke out at a news conference Thursday, during which New Mexico elected officials decried U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement鈥檚 tactics in what they described as a spree of immigration arrests in the city this week.
Madeline Pernillo, 18, and Yajaira Gutierrez, 19, described ICE鈥檚 arrests of their relatives in two separate events Wednesday.
Their relatives are two of as many as 16 arrests that local immigrant advocates have identified in Santa Fe and surrounding communities recently, according to the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico.
Pernillo鈥檚 description matches one of the more high-profile arrests this week in the parking lot of La Familia鈥檚 Alto Street clinic, which resulted in the father of an 11-year-old girl being arrested.
A U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said agents 鈥渃onducted a targeted enforcement operation鈥 against a man they identified as Edgar Chacon-Miranda when they saw him park at the medical center.
Pernillo said the man ICE arrested is her uncle. He had just stepped out of the car with his 11-year-old daughter before a medical appointment at La Familia鈥檚 clinic when ICE agents approached their car.
鈥淛ust as they were getting out of the car, they were surrounded by ICE agents,鈥 Pernillo said in Spanish. 鈥淭he agents began questioning the girl, asking for her father鈥檚 name, how many siblings she had and if she knew her mother鈥檚 name. When she innocently gave her mother鈥檚 name, she became upset and started crying.鈥
After that, agents began threatening to break the car鈥檚 windows if Chacon-Miranda did not get out of the car. Chacon-Miranda complied and agents arrested him, Pernillo said.
鈥淎s the agents handcuffed him, my 11-year-old cousin was left traumatized,鈥 she said. 鈥淪he now wakes up crying at night.鈥
The statement from the unnamed DHS spokesperson described Chacon-Miranda as a 鈥渃riminal illegal alien鈥 with an extensive criminal history, including arrests for battery against a household member, criminal sexual penetration, child abuse and child abandonment.
Court records show Chacon-Miranda was accused of those crimes in Santa Fe in 2018, but the charges were dropped due to the case not being prosecuted within time limits.
Immigration attorney Allegra Love, who is representing Chacon-Miranda, blasted ICE in a phone interview for suggesting her client was violent or a criminal when he鈥檚 never been convicted. She noted he successfully applied to receive lawful permanent resident status after the charges were dropped.
鈥淗e actually qualifies for a green card in the 近距离内射合集 States despite these charges because he was never convicted of them,鈥 Love said. 鈥淭hat has to mean something, but it doesn鈥檛 mean something to ICE. It doesn鈥檛 mean anything to ICE.鈥
The arrest at the clinic parking lot has sparked outrage from local elected officials, who said ICE should not make immigration-related arrests at medical facilities, as well as other community locations such as churches and schools. U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fern谩ndez, D-N.M., who convened the Thursday news conference, has introduced legislation to prohibit ICE from arresting people at what she referred to as 鈥渟ensitive places鈥 like the clinic.
鈥淚CE should stay away. They used to stay away under the Biden administration. They used to stay away when it was Obama,鈥 Leger Fern谩ndez said. 鈥淚t was Trump and his cruel and corrupt policies that have decided, 鈥楴o, there is no safe and sacred place from their raids,鈥 and so we are also calling upon ICE to start respecting the Constitution.鈥
Pernillo said her uncle, a father of three, was 鈥渟imply fulfilling his duty as a father鈥 when ICE arrested him.
鈥淎t that moment, my cousin should have been thinking about school, not the moment her father was torn away from her,鈥 she said.
The city of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County issued a joint statement that both governments 鈥渞eaffirm our commitment to the safety, dignity, civil liberties and rights of everyone who calls Santa Fe home,鈥 and noted that neither city police nor the county sheriff participated in the arrests.
Protesters took to the streets in Santa Fe on Thursday evening by the state Capitol in response to the ICE arrests.
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