SPOKANE, Wash. – Two young men were arrested Wednesday outside the ICE office in Spokane during what was supposed to be a routine check-up.
The arrests led to an eruption of protests, and while things have calmed down since, the fight to bring them home is going strong.
Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and Joswar (Randy) Slater Rodriguez Torres were taken into custody outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office on West Cataldo.
Shelly O’Quinn, a former Republican Spokane County Commissioner who had plans to sponsor Randy, said the situation has been aggravating.
“I have the mom feeling which is why you are talking to me in the car on my way to see them,” O’Quinn said while driving to the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma where the men are being held.
O’Quinn first met Cesar and Randy, in September. She says their kind hearts quickly made them feel like family.
O’Quinn says they came to the U.S. through the Humanitarian Parole Program, started by the Biden administration and recently abolished by the Trump administration. The Department of Homeland Security says more than 500,000 people came into the U.S. through this program.
“Spokane is their home, and they’ve been productive citizens in Spokane,” O’Quinn said. “These are two young men who came into the U.S. legally… and they have done everything we ask those who immigrate into the U.S. to do.”
Protesters sat in front of buses for hours, interlocking hands and making their voices heard. All in an effort to keep Cesar and Randy in Spokane.
“For me, that was also symbolism, though to them that, you know, it wasn’t Spokane that kicked them out. It was ICE agents that took them, but it wasn’t Spokane,” O’Quinn said.
“The mom side of me is just sad and honestly wanting to take care of them and let them know everything is okay,” O’Quinn said.
For O’Quinn, this is not a partisan issue, but rather a human issue. While frustrating to see these men following the rules be detained, she has not lost hope
“I also have hoped that there’s still an opportunity for an outcome that will allow them to continue the life that they had developed in Spokane and created for themselves,” O’Quinn said.
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