ACLU Puerto Rico files legal motion defending Mexican immigrant and seeking his release

San Juan, P.R. - The Puerto Rico Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a new habeas corpus petition in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on behalf of Sandro González Domínguez, a Mexican immigrant detained on Saturday by masked agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

"Sandro not only has community and family ties to Puerto Rico, but he is also an example of how the migrant community is part of the economy that drives and sustains our country, even amidst the institutional violence our immigrants face," noted attorney Fermín Arraiza, Legal Director of the ACLU of Puerto Rico. "We demand Sandro's release and an end to the unlawful detention of immigrants in our archipelago," he stated.

González Domínguez has lived in the United States and Puerto Rico for 28 years and has two daughters who are U.S. citizens, aged 26 and 19. He is the co-owner of a restaurant business with eight locations in the archipelago, employing approximately 115 people. He was detained by masked agents on September 26 outside one of the restaurants he co-owns.

The ACLU of Puerto Rico filed the legal motion on the night of September 28. The petition, which seeks to prevent González Domínguez from being transferred out of the jurisdiction of Puerto Rico, is currently under consideration by Judge Raúl M. Arias-Marxuach. After being notified of the case, the Immigration Court in Guaynabo issued a notice for a hearing on October 1 at 8:30 a.m. The hearing is a custody redetermination proceeding, which allows an immigration judge to set bond or grant the release of the detained immigrant. The presiding judge is Elvin Talavera Peraza.

"Puerto Rico needs to know that federal immigration authorities continue to violate the rights of immigrants residing in our archipelago, disregarding even the procedures established by federal laws and regulations—as well as the U.S. Constitution—thereby rendering the detention of Sandro and thousands of other immigrants illegal," stated attorney María "Charito" García, González Domínguez’s immigration lawyer and director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) School of Law.

The ACLU of Puerto Rico, with the UPR School of Law Immigration Clinic and the Inter American University School of Law Legal Aid Clinic, has represented twelve immigrants—including Sandro—whose basic rights have been violated. Their cases represent just a sample of the experiences undergone by thousands of immigrants who are part of our communities in Puerto Rico.