Rights groups say Portland area 'Dreamer' picked up by ICE
Rodriguez Dominguez, 25, is connected to Portland and Gresham. He was reportedly taken from his Portland home Sunday morning after entering DUI diversion program last December.
A coalition of civil rights groups is accusing U.S. Immigrations and Custom Enforcement of arresting a 25-year-old immigrant in the Portland area early Sunday.
The Portland Tribune could not immedialtey confirm the claim with ICE.
According to a Sunday afternoon press release, Rodriguez Dominguez, 25, was arrested by ICE agents at his home in Southeast Portland. The release says Dominguez has been been part of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program since 2013. They are known as "Dreamers."
The release was issued by the ACLU of Oregon, CAUSA, and the Latino Network. It says Dominguez entered a diversion program for Driving Under the Influence in December and quickly completed most of its requirments.
In December 2016, Francisco entered into a DUI diversion program. He quickly completed nearly all of the requirements of this program, attended all his court dates and required meetings.
"Despite Francisco's best efforts to make good on his mistake, ICE has taken the position that even a misdemeanor DUI eligible for diversion is enough to end DACA status. This policy is tearing apart his family, our communities, and does nothing to keep us safer." Andrea Williams, executive director of Causa Oregon, an Oregon immigrant rights organization, said in the release.
"His family said it was terrifying and they didn't know what to do. ICE agents were banging on the door. They didn't have a warrant, and were told they couldn't come in, but they wouldn't stop banging on the door," Stephen Manning, a local immigration lawyer who talked with the family, said in the release.
According to the release, Dominguez arrived in the United States at the age of five from Morelia Michoacan, Mexico. He has lived in the Portland metro area since then and attended Glenfair Elementary School, H.B. Lee Middle School, Reynolds High School, and Mt. Hood Community College to study information technology.
The release says Dominguez works for Latino Network, a community organization, where he coordinates a food pantry for low income families at Reynolds Middle School in partnership with the Oregon Food Bank and Multnomah County SUN Community Schools initiative. He also coaches a soccer team at Glenfair Elementary.
"Everyone loves Francisco. I don't know how we will tell the kids, families, and school staff he works with about this. They are going to be heartbroken to hear he has been taken away," the release quotes Carmen Rubio from the Latino Network as saying.
"We were shocked to learn that Francisco had been picked up this morning. A judge had already determined that he wasn't a danger to the community or a flight risk. So, why is ICE showing up at his house early on Sunday morning? These kind of brutal tactics do not keep us safe. It just makes people scared to live their lives and pushes immigrant communities further into the shadows." ACLU Legal Director Mat dos Santos said in the release.
To read a previous Portland Tribune story on the issue, visit portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/350750-229960-ice-in-the-city.
