"Just steps outside the courtroom where Judge Joseph Y. Park was presiding over asylum cases on Friday morning, an ICE officer grabbed a Colombian man and slammed him against the wall, an eyewitness said and multiple sources confirmed to Mission Local. Other ICE agents moved in to handcuff the man, who had just finished his asylum hearing, when suddenly the arrest was called off - ICE had the wrong person."
"After the incident, the man walked free to his awaiting family and the ICE agents remained outside of the courtroom where they apprehended a different Colombian asylum-seeker, whom they had intended to arrest. Around half a dozen agents stood, some in ski masks covering their faces, one wearing a black surgical mask and the rest wearing no masks at all."
"One of the others, a man who appeared to be in his late 50s, pleaded his case but to no avail. "I need more time. I am afraid to return to Venezuela," he told the courtroom before detailing harrowing experiences in his home country. The man appeared without a lawyer and said he was on the waiting list for a pro-bono attorney. Despite his testimony, DHS dismissed his case."
Just steps outside a courtroom where Judge Joseph Y. Park presided over asylum hearings, ICE officers grabbed and briefly detained a Colombian man before calling off the arrest because they had the wrong person. Agents then apprehended a different Colombian asylum-seeker; about half a dozen officers stood by, some wearing ski masks. Around 20 immigrants attended early-morning hearings, and the judge scheduled follow-up dates. The Department of Homeland Security moved to dismiss three asylum cases, including the one ICE targeted, accelerating removal. One late-50s man without counsel pleaded fear of returning to Venezuela but DHS dismissed his case and ICE arrested him.
Read at Mission Local
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