Members of the family played an important role in organizing this year's
May Day pro-immigrant march in Temecula, and are residents of an apartment building that was the target of a multi-agency immigration raid in 2008. They suspect that they are being targeted for their social justice work.
"The Border Patrol is saying that the youths were at an AM/PM and they ran when they saw the patrol car. But it looks like their car was followed from the store, and the arrests occurred at the residence," said a volunteer advocate in the case.
"There's no reason that this should have happened to a family. If they are being targeted for exercising their human rights to free speech and assembly, this act of repression is a fundamental violation," commented a human rights worker.
One inland activist pointed out the police practice of photographing immigrant rights protesters, which he witnessed at this year's
May 1 march in San Bernardino. "That's how they identify the troublemakers. They probably pass the information to the Border Patrol and other agencies," he speculated.
As of Sunday afternoon, volunteers had secured the stay of immediate deportation, while further defense remains in the works.
