Cuban-American Granddad in US for 45 Years Arrested by ICE, Family Says

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have allegedly arrested a 73-year-old grandfather, a man named Jose Francisco Garcia Rodriguez, who has lived in the United States for 45 years, his family has said. In a video shared on Facebook, his stepdaughter Christian Cooper Riggs spoke about his alleged arrest and urged people to support his release.

Newsweek could not verify the veracity of the video or the alleged detention andreached out to ICE via email, and to Riggs via social media, for comment out of normal working hours on Sunday.

Why It Matters

President Donald Trump has pledged to deport millions of undocumented immigrants as part of his push for mass removals. He has also authorized ICE to carry out arrests in or near sensitive locations, including schools and universities. In the first 50 days of his presidency, 32,809 people were arrested by ICE.

ICE — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrest an undocumented immigrant in a raid in Brooklyn on April 11, 2018, in New York City.

John Moore/Getty Images

What To Know

Rodriguez was allegedly picked up by ICE while on his way to work on Monday near his home in Lafayette, Louisiana, and is reported by his stepdaughter as being held in an ICE facility in Pine Prairie, Louisiana.

Riggs spoke about the alleged arrest and her stepfather in a video on Facebook. She said that Rodriguez arrived in the U.S. 45 years ago on a ship provided by the U.S. for people who were seeking refuge from the Cuban government.

“He fled his country in fear of his government and for the opportunity to come to the U.S. and live a better life,” Riggs said.

She continued that he had come to the U.S. with only the clothes on his back and said that he “struggled.” She then said, “In that struggle, he made some poor decisions. He was punished for those decisions, he served his time, did very well and decided that he would never make mistakes again.” Riggs does not elaborate further on the details of said mistakes.

“For the last 43 years after that, Jose has lived a good life,” she said. She also said in the video that Rodriguez is a carer for her mother, who suffers from dementia and that he himself has a heart problem.

Riggs said that due to the earlier troubles he had experienced, he was not able to become an official U.S. citizen and said that they have spent 10 years trying to rectify this.

“We thought once he paid his time, once he did everything that the authorities asked him to do, that was it,” Riggs said. “Nobody told us he had been put on a removal list.”

Critics say immigration raids are sowing fear in vulnerable communities and that they violate protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Issues including warrantless arrests, data collection without consent and detentions without probable cause could be deemed unconstitutional and may prompt legal battles over balancing immigration enforcement with individual rights.

Americans largely support the president’s mass deportation plans. A poll carried out by The New York Times and Ipsos from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported “deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records.”

What People Are Saying

Christian Cooper Riggs, in her video speaking about her stepfather on Facebook: “I understand that we have an immigration problem, I do. I understand that our country cannot harbor every single person that crosses its borders. I understand that there are really bad people that we have to find. But starting with 73-year-old grandfathers who have heart conditions and who are caretakers, is not the solution.”