Leftist agitators in Phoenix, AZ, attempted to block an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) van carrying Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos – a 36-year-old Mexican national illegally in the country – on Wednesday night.
The Arizona Republic reports that Rayos has been given de facto stays of deportation from federal authorities for four years. Her Wednesday evening “check in” with ICE’s Phoenix office, however, resulted in her being taken into custody.
Earlier on Wednesday, leftist agitators had assembled outside of ICE’s Phoenix office – seemingly attempting to draw national attention from sympathetic left-wing and Democrat-aligned news media outlets such as CNN – attempting to block federal vehicles from leaving the facility. “Justice! No papers, no fear!” and “Power to the people, no one is illegal!” were chanted. Two hundred people are estimated to have gathered for the protest, with seven subsequently arrested.
Rayos claims to have entered the country when she was 14. Her husband and two children (a 16-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter) are all US-born citizens.
ICE officials issued a written statement confirming that Garcia de Rayos had been detained based on a prior removal order – finalized in 2013 – issued by the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review.
“Relevant databases indicate Ms. Garcia De Rayos has a prior felony conviction dating from March 2009 for criminal impersonation,” the statement said.
Rayos was convicted of criminal impersonation following a 2008 “work-site raid” by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office targeting Golfland Entertainment Centers.
Rayos’s lawyer, Ray Ybarra-Maldonado, told The Arizona Republic that Rayos was found to have no legal stance to remain in the country by an immigration judge in 2013. Rayos was then issued a voluntary departure, which she appealed. ICE then gave Rayos an order of supervision initially requiring annual check ins, which then became bi-annual.
CNN and similarly political news media outlets are describing Rayos as an “undocumented immigrant.”
Watch video of the event below.
Watch a longer video of the event below.
H/T Daniel González and Johana Restrepo at The Arizona Republic
Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter.