Some of the car wash employees detained in an immigration raid two weeks ago are still awaiting release after being granted bond on Monday, their attorney said.
Five immigrant women and four men were detained on Nov. 4 in a sudden morning raid of Allston Car Wash. Onlookers described seeking over a dozen black vehicles swarming the area, and people being led away in cuffs and at gunpoint.
Three of those detained — Yuli Magali Mendez Luarca, Jose Enriquez Sagastume and Dairo Preciado — were all granted bond on Monday by Chelmsford immigration Judge Yul-mi Cho. Afterward, lawyer Todd Pomerleau filed motions demanding their release, but a judge denied those motions because their bonds had not yet been processed. He filed them again late Tuesday afternoon. A judge granted one of the motions, and set a deadline of 10 a.m. Wednesday for the release of Preciado.
“Today is Jose’s 20th birthday and he’s still in custody because for whatever reason the online database that ICE utilizes caused difficulties with all three of them paying their bonds,” Pomerleau said.
Volunteers helping with bond ran into problems posting it on ICE’s online payment system, and funds being rejected and sent back to banks, and getting assistance from the agency in troubleshooting.
Amanda Eisenhower is one of those volunteers with LUCE Immigrant Justice Network. “It’s incredible that they can have the capacity to be arresting people 24 hours a day, sending ICE into our communities,” she said. “But when they are legally required to release somebody on bond, all of a sudden, oh, they’re taking their time. We can’t get around to it. We’ll get to it when we get to it.”
Bond for Preciado and Luarca was $5,000, and Sagastume’s was set for $1,500. All were fully paid as of 11 a.m. Tuesday.
Pomerleau said ICE has not been forthcoming with information.
“They’re not even telling the people who paid the bond whether they’re gonna be released or from where,” he said.
Usually when immigrants are granted bond, they’re taken to the ICE processing center in Burlington and released from there. But Pomerleau said that isn’t always the case.
“I’ve had them drop clients off at Home Depots near the Plymouth County jail,” he said. “I’ve have them drop clients off in the pouring rain without a phone call. And I had a client released from the Vermont facility a few months ago and had to find a ride home.”
Inquiries to the federal government about the releases went unanswered.
Others detained at the car wash are still awaiting bond hearings. Pomerleau said Vanessa Vasquez Valladares, who was detained with two other family members, was transferred to Vermont from Texas and could be getting a bond hearing soon. Two other individuals have bond hearings this week. Another woman being held in New England, Clarisa Aguilon, was ordered released on bond by Judge Richard Stearns just before press time.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not been clear about why they went to the business, and if they were performing an employment paperwork authorization check, or an I-9 audit. To legally have done that, they would have had to alert the business and given them three work days to produce paperwork.
Pomerleau and family members have said that many of the nine employees detained have legal status and valid work permits, and none have criminal records.
Zac Segal, president of the Boston University College Republicans, posted a message online last week claiming credit for the sweep.
“I’ve been calling ICE for months on end,” he wrote. “This week they finally responded to my request to detain these criminals. As someone who lives in the neighborhood, I’ve seen how American jobs are being given away to those with no right to be here.”
The Allston Car Wash recently released a statement saying that it’s been supporting the employees and their families through this process. The business also said publicly labelling its employees as criminals is ”reckless and distressing.”
“At no point did this individual contact us, speak with management, or inquire about our employees or operations,” the business said in its statement, noting that some workers had been with the car wash for decades.
“The employees detained last week are part of our team and part of this community. We are doing everything possible to support them and their families throughout this process,” it read.
The federal government didn’t respond to questions about Segal’s claims and whether it had acted in part because of a tip from him.
“The operation was highly targeted and relied on law enforcement intelligence—not your silly rumor,” wrote Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin on Friday to GBH News.
The nine individuals didn’t know Segal, and he didn’t know them, according to attorneys.
“He’s entitled to have his opinion, but he’s wrong,” said Pomerleau. He said the labelling of the men and women as criminals was “false.”
Despite the situation, Pomerleau doesn’t think Segal should be “hunted down” or kicked out of school, as expressing his opinion was a First Amendment right. Segal didn’t return request for comment.
