U.S. congressmen, state lawmakers decry ICE deportation of beloved Livermore father

LIVERMORE Congressman Eric Swalwell this week decried the Trump administration s latest decision to deport a Livermore father and winery worker mere hours before a U S District Court judge reported he should remain in the country Vowing that we re not going to forget him Swalwell slammed the early June deportation of Miguel L pez as a sign of President Donald Trump emerging his promise to only target transients with criminal histories as part of a nationwide immigration crackdown Local federal state and county lawmakers joined Swalwell in framing the deportation as further proof that Trump s administration appears unwilling to allow foreigners due process L pez is exactly who we want in our society noted Swalwell a Democrat who resides in Livermore He has a job has a family is connected culturally and the fact that he was removed is just wrong We were explained violent individuals were being removed and that s not the affair with Miguel California Assemblywoman Liz Ortega who was born in Mexico and represents a district centered in Hayward similarly berated the Trump administration From the moment President Trump started to campaign around immigration he continued to say this was about criminals and he was only going to deport criminals Ortega mentioned But the reality is that this has never been about criminals This has perpetually been about racially profiling our area L pez who has lived in Livermore for the past years was deported late in the evening of June hours before U S The L pez family from left Stephanie L pez Rosa L pez Miguel L pez Julian L pez and Angel L pez U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detained Miguel Lopez on May when he evidenced up to a ruling body building in San Francisco as part of a routine process toward his citizenship L pez was born in Mexico and has lived in California for years including several years in Livermore Photo courtesy L pez family District Court Judge Trina Thompson issued a temporary restraining order demanding that federal personnel keep him in the country In her ruling the judge noted how L pez s event appeared to drip with inequities particularly given how the country has just now turned its back on its history of welcoming expatriates The order was signed June a day after the -year-old s attorney requested it By that time federal officials had already taken L pez to Tijuana Mexico The timing is troubling commented Democratic U S Rep Mark DeSaulnier whose district borders Livermore and includes the U S immigration courthouse in Concord It sounds like they should have waited until the judge made their decision DeSaulnier noted But under this administration they are being encouraged to be aggressive to the point of violating people s due process and the law In a situation like this where there s no immediate danger to the masses I don t understand it he added L pez s deportation comes as the Trump administration doubles down on its immigration crackdown by once again tracking down movers working at restaurants farms and hotels following a several-day pause of that practice over the weekend Migrant advocates say Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers have yet to begin such raids in the Bay Area instead preferring to detain expatriates visiting immigration courthouses and ICE offices In up-to-date weeks several expatriates have been detained while attending court hearings at courthouses in Concord and San Francisco stated Sergio Jaime-Lopez neighborhood defense coordinator with the Contra Cost Immigrant Rights Alliance Several others including L pez have been detained during routine check-ins that asylum seekers must make at ICE s office in San Francisco In L pez s matter he was whisked away to the Kern County city of McFarland where he spent days in detention before being transferred to a facility in Bakersfield on June Later that night functionaries took him across the boundary Livid Democratic lawmakers and immigration attorneys say Trump is not only bypassing displaced persons rights to due process but he also is not following his promises when it comes to deportations What they care about is meeting a quota and picking up Black and brown people and trying to have them disappear California Assemblymember Mia Bonta D-Alameda noted That for me is not following the rule of law Bonta who is married to California Attorney General Rob Bonta emphasized that L pez should be able to return to the U S and have his day in court His incident she revealed shows how Trump s agenda has more to do with hate and bigotry than truly following the rule of law For Swalwell a longtime Tri-Valley resident L pez s event is very personal He got married at Wente Winery where L pez held a job as a welder and machinist for the past nine years We stand ready to do anything else that we can do to help Swalwell commented The options appear limited L pez s attorney Saad Ahmad declared he plans to continue to fight in U S District Court for the cabinet to reinstate Lopez s green card a process that could take at a minimum several months Ahmad maintains his client was denied due process by this country s immigration system Our constitution allows due process for everyone in the country especially someone who was granted permanent resident status at a few point Ahmad disclosed Thursday No hearing date has been set while each side prepares to file its legal arguments in the situation Now the regime is working on a motion to dismiss this affair due in July Ahmad has until August to reply and then he says L pez could potentially have a day in court as early as September though the process could take longer he added Swalwell declared there s little he can do unless Democrats retake one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections We have to be in the majority to have leverage to write laws to reverse these inhumanities Swalwell stated Everything changes when we re in the majority For Miguel L pez and his wife Rosa L pez the sudden breakup of their family has left them reeling This week the two parents worried that their youngest son will not have his father on the sidelines for his senior year of football for Granada High School The three of them spent much of their time over the past week inside a room of a Mexico City house pacing with anxiety and unsure of what will happen to their family Immigration officers confiscated his California driver s license and U S passport he disclosed Without valid identification from either the U S or Mexico he s having trouble finding a place to rent or a job that will take him on Hundreds of locality and family members take part in a rally in assistance of Miguel Lopez at the Livermorium Plaza in Livermore Calif on Wednesday June Lopez a native of Mexico a Livermore resident and father of three was detained by immigration officers when he displayed up for a citizenship hearing in San Francisco last week Ray Chavez Bay Area News Group In Livermore where a couple hundred rallied earlier this month to Bring Miguel Home friends and supporters have set up a GoFundMe account to help As of Wednesday more than was raised But the family breadwinner and father of five who owns a Livermore home and worked side jobs on top of his Wente Vineyards gig says bills are stacking up All the money in the world he mentioned cannot bring him what he wants largest part returning home Soon his wife and son who flew to Mexico to be by his side will fly back to the Bay Area I wish they would tell me to come back on the morrow revealed L pez declared in an interview Tuesday Until then he added I ll stay by myself and I m worried about them and how they re going to do over there Kyle Martin is a reporter covering Fremont and the Tri-Valley area Call or text him - - or email him at kymartin bayareanewsgroup com