Residents of a tight-knit community in Los Angeles are rallying around a longtime cafe worker who witnesses say was detained by immigration agents while on the job.
Family members of 52-year-old Eloy Marin say they are doing everything legally possible to ensure his release after what they describe as a forceful detention outside Hojas Tea House in Wilmington on Tuesday morning.
Just after 10 a.m., Marin was taking out the trash behind the cafe when federal agents in a black SUV confronted him, according to witnesses.
Marin tried to run but didn’t get far. Employees rushed outside, pleading with agents to release him, but he was handcuffed and driven away.
As bystanders recorded the encounter, voices could be heard asking, “Where are you going to take him? To get fingerprints?”
“I could just see the defeat in his face,” said his daughter, Jenny Marin. “He also feared this day. Every night, we’d watch the news and see more people being taken, and he’d pray to God, saying, ‘I hope it’s not me.’”
Jenny said her father moved from Mexico more than 30 years ago and has spent his entire adult life in the U.S., working two or three jobs at a time to support his family. She declined to comment on his legal status but said he has no criminal record.
“My biggest fear right now is him not being able to come back home,” she said. “This is his home, not Mexico. He may be Mexican, we all are, but this is where he’s built his life.”
Under the Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement policies, federal agents have been directed to detain anyone suspected of residing in the U.S. illegally, regardless of criminal history.
Alma Ortiz, owner of Hojas Tea House, said Marin’s detention has left her devastated.
“He was targeted,” Ortiz said. “Eloy has been with us for 12 years, and he is very well known here in the community — a hardworking man, dedicated to his wife, his children and his job.”
Los Angeles City Councilmember Tim McOsker said there has been a sharp increase in immigration raids in Wilmington, including at car washes, grocery stores and small businesses.
“My concern is for the community, to make sure we’re notifying folks to be on the lookout and be careful,” McOsker said. “It’s notable that the places being raided — a donut shop, a coffee shop, a street vendor — are areas where there’s no concern about criminal activity coming from these hardworking employees.”
KTLA has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment but has not yet received a response.
Meanwhile, Marin’s family has launched a legal effort to fight his detention and started a GoFundMe page to help with related expenses.
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