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LOS ANGELES () — A Reseda Charter High School student was released from ICE custody in late November, months after he was detained by federal agents, Congresswoman Luz Rivas announced Thursday.
Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz was preparing to begin his senior year at the school. But on Aug. 8, he was taken off the street by masked agents while he was walking his dog in Van Nuys.
Guerrero-Cruz was held at a Los Angeles detention center before being transferred to a similar facility in Arizona on Aug. 26, much to the surprise of his family.
Speaking on the floor of the House of Representatives Thursday, Rivas announced that Guerrero-Cruz had been reunited with his family just before Thanksgiving.
“I am beyond relieved to see Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz home and reunited with his family -especially his mother – who can tightly hold her son again after months of fear and uncertainty at the hands of an out-of-control ICE,” Rivas said in a statement.
“Benjaminand his family should have never been placed in this situation to begin with,” the statement said. “The Trump Administration’s cruel anti-immigrant agenda and ICE is forcing communities and immigrant families to live in fear. It is wrong. That is why I am fighting every day for immigrants – conducting oversight at immigration detention facilities, working on immigration casework and alongside immigration groups, and demanding answers.”
According to the Department of Homeland Security, Guerrero-Cruz is originally from Chile and overstayed his visa by more than two years, “abusing the Visa Waiver Program under which he entered the United States, which required him to depart the United States on March 15, 2023,” the agency said in a statement.
Aug. 8, Border Patrol arrested Guerrero-Cruz and placed him into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement pending removal, federal officials said. On Nov. 17, an immigration judge granted him bond and he was placed into supervised released “as he continues in removal proceedings. He will have periodic mandatory check-ins with ICE law enforcement to ensure he is abiding by the terms of her release,” according to DHS.
Community members and educators continue to push for the release of an LAUSD student who has been in ICE custody for nearly three months.
“We encourage all illegal aliens to us the CBP Home app to get a free flight home for Christmas and $1,000,” the agency said.
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