Family members greeted Emma De Paz with tears, hugs, signs and bouquets of flowers on Monday when federal immigration agents freed her after four months of detention.
As she stepped out of the SUV that had ferried her to her home in East Hollywood from the Adelanto Detention Center, she already was holding her arms wide to hug loved ones welcoming her back.
The emotional return of this 58-year-old street vendor and grandmother was the result of many people working for months to secure her release. Her months in detention were painful, but they did not dampen her spirit.
“They’re violating our rights. It’s an injustice,” De Paz said, wearing a carnation yellow blouse and surrounded by more than 50 family members and friends. “We’re hard workers, not criminals.”
There were also more tender moments on Monday. After her attorneys secured her bond and she arrived home, De Paz thanked and hugged her children and grandchildren for never leaving her behind. “Muchas gracias,” she said again and again.
De Paz, who is undocumented, arrived from Guatemala 25 years ago and had for years worked as a street vendor, selling tamales, soup and roasted chicken to day laborers.
On the morning of June 19, De Paz had been among the vendors who were selling breakfasts to day laborers outside of the Home Depot in Hollywood, when federal immigration agents swept through and began arresting them and other workers. At the time, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Customs and Border Protection “arrested 30 illegal aliens in Hollywood, California.”
De Paz had long advocated for street vendors in the Melrose/Vermont area, informing other vendors of their rights with the Community Power Collective, a nonprofit group in east Los Angeles. Organizers knew within 15 minutes of her detainment that she had been picked up, said Sergio Jimenez, a lead organizer with the organization.
“From that moment, we started activating a lot of our connections, a lot of our resources,” Jimenez said. That included outreach to L.A. city councilmembers, launching a GoFundMe that raised money to hire an attorney and paying her rent so she had still a home when she was released. The organization was unrelenting in its advocacy for De Paz, creating an altar and rally for her in July to keep her story alive.
This week, De Paz recounted how, when she was first detained, she was taken to the downtown Los Angeles immigration office. It was so cold there, she recalled, that she tucked her arms and head inside her blouse and used her face mask to try and keep warm. Immigration officials tried to get her to sign for voluntary deportation, but she refused. She wanted to fight to stay in the U.S., she said.
For four months, she was held in the Adelanto Detention Center, which is about 90 miles northeast of the city. There she lost weight, being fed meals that sometimes included expired beans or ham, she said. Having been denied access to her medication, she said she felt the need to speak up about her unjust detainment and the conditions at Adelanto.
“We have to be united and show the government that immigrants are not here to take. It’s the opposite. We came to work, we came to pay taxes,” De Paz said Monday afternoon to friends and family.
De Paz‘s homecoming included food, a “welcome” balloon sign, tent and prayers. She thanked her friends, and became tearful as she spoke about the other women she met while being detained, including Iranians, Koreans and Venezuelans.
Inside Adelanto, she said, she met people who had no criminal records but were picked up while going to mandated court hearings. Her message to such immigrants was to not sign documents to authorize deportation. The $1,000 “exit bonus” promised by the Department of Homeland Security is used to secure their flight out, she said, often leaving migrants with a few hundred dollars if they sign.
“Don’t sign,” she said. “Inside, I didn’t see criminals. I saw humble people, like me. Elderly people, young people, sick people.”
While in Adelanto, she said she prayed daily — often with other detainees — asking for strength and fortitude. She saw women get sick, she said, because they were deprived of medication or had become depressed, or fainted. One young Venezuelan attempted to kill herself, De Paz said. Some days, she said, she lost hope that she would ever get released.
“I felt like I was in a hole,” she said, rubbing her chest above her heart. “I thought I would never get out of there.”
But then, her lawyer, Karla Navarrete, was able to move her case forward and secure De Paz’s release with a bond. On Oct. 16, she received a bond hearing after her attorneys filed a petition, Navarrete said in an online message.
De Paz was able to successfully secure bond Friday, but her family then learned her release would be delayed until Monday. They started preparing her homecoming, gathering food, chairs, tables and posters.
Her grandchildren drew signs that read, “bienvenida mamita Emma” with smiling faces, hearts and flowers. “We missed you,” another read. A mariachi singer serenaded De Paz as she arrived back home.
Her brother, Carlos Barrera De Paz, asked the crowd to join him in prayer for the immigrants who remained detained, who did not have access to lawyers and a support network. Jimenez, who drove De Paz from Adelanto, said they are working to get another vendor released who was picked up about a month and a half ago.
Sitting at a table, De Paz ate a meal of beans and rice as the hugs and gifts continued to arrive in waves. Her children stayed by her side, her daughters rubbing her back, as people came by to congratulate her on her release. She held their hands and thanked them profusely for their support.
One of her daughters brought her tea, but she said she struggled to hold the mug because her hands had developed a tremor since she was detained.
Jimenez said the grandmother’s health had suffered in detention, in part, he said, because she was deprived of her medicine. She would from now on, he said, have to navigate the trauma she faced during four months in detainment.
“She has a great support system, as you can see,” he added. “But it’s harsh what she endured.”
This article is part of The Times’ equity reporting initiative, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, exploring the challenges facing low-income workers and the efforts being made to address California’s economic divide.
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