Man arrested by immigration agents outside Newsom's redistricting news conference in LA speaks after weeks in custody
The man who was arrested by federal immigration agents outside of a press conference being held by California Gov. Gavin Newsom in Los Angeles in early August is speaking out after weeks behind bars.
Angél Minguela Palacios, a 48-year-old fruit vendor, was released from custody after two months, most of which was spent at a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Arizona. He was released when his employer paid a $15,000 bond that was offered by a judge.
He told CBS News Los Angeles that he was kept in "prison" conditions, with no beds and sleeping on a concrete floor.
The lights were on 24 hours a day, Minguela said, and they were provided with little food. The conditions were so bleak, he added, that some of the detainees said yes to self-deportation when federal agents asked them.
Minguela was arrested on Aug. 14 when he was delivering fruit in Little Tokyo. He says that he got swept up by agents who had gathered outside of Newsom's press conference on California's redistricting efforts.
He sent his partner a text message after his arrest.
"My love, immigration caught me," the text, translated from Spanish, said. "Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay. God is going to help us a lot."
Minguela states that he entered the United States on a tourist visa 10 years ago and that he has no criminal record in either the U.S. or Mexico.
CBS News Los Angeles reached out to the Department of Homeland Security to request a comment on Minguela's arrest. In part, their statement said that he "was arrested for breaking our country's laws by overstaying his visa."
His court date is scheduled for Monday, where his attorney will join him as they seek to get his deportation order canceled. His family is waiting anxiously, already distraught over the time they had to spend apart.
"I cried so hard. It was so bad," said Minguela's daughter, who wished not to share her identity. She says that her mother and her two younger brothers, the youngest of whom has autism, have been overwhelmed by his absence.
