A 23-year-old Red Bluff resident who asked to remain anonymous to protect her safety says her 28-year-old husband, who is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was abruptly and aggressively detained at the Tehama County Jail Thursday. She said her husband was apprehended while waiting to submit paperwork to sign up for community service stemming from a recent misdemeanor conviction.
On Saturday morning, the woman, who is a United States citizen, learned that her husband, who works in construction here in the North State, had been deported to Mexico.
The deportee’s wife shared with A News Café what happened after she accompanied her husband to the jail office on Thursday, starting around 7:45 a.m.
The wife said her husband, who had no previous criminal history prior to the recent misdemeanor conviction, had complied with the advisement of his immigration lawyer and was in the planning stages to arrange for 40 hours of community service at the Tehama County Fairgrounds. In fact, according to the wife, her husband was told that in order to complete community service, he needed to first show up at the Tehama County Jail to sign up for the program. She said that after her husband submitted his community service paperwork, he was told to sit down and wait for staff to process the paperwork.
The paperwork would never be processed.
Instead, after being told to sit down and wait for the community service paperwork to be processed, the couple sat down in the waiting room next to a Hispanic woman who appeared to be approximately 50 years old. After a brief conversation with the woman, they learned that the woman had been waiting in the jail waiting room since approximately 5 a.m. Thursday.
After approximately 10 to 15 minutes, two plain-clothed men were let into the waiting room though previously locked doors that were subsequently unlocked by a white female Tehama County Sheriff’s Office correctional deputy.
“She opened the doors for them because the doors they were trying to come in through were locked,” explained the deportee’s wife.
The couple and the other woman in the waiting room soon learned that the two men let into the facility by the TCSO employee were ICE agents.
After the ICE agents were let into the jail through the locked doors, the ICE agents approached and proceeded to detain the wife’s husband, as well as the Hispanic woman who’d been in the jail waiting room since many hours before sunup that day.
The wife recalled that the plain-clothed ICE agents did not identify themselves by name, and only briefly pulled their badges out of their pockets to flash law enforcement credentials.
Even so, the deportee’s wife was skeptical.
“They didn’t look like police officers,” she said. “I think they were waiting for my husband to finally arrive, because they were the only two Hispanic people that were there; my husband and the other lady.”
Violation of California Values Act
The detainment of the two individuals by ICE agents is a potential violation of the California Values Act (SB 54), which prohibits law enforcement agencies from using their resources to assist federal immigration enforcement by way of investigating, interrogating, detaining, or arresting individuals for immigration purposes.
Signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown in 2017, the California Values Act also prohibits law enforcement agencies from transferring individuals to federal immigration authorities, and it is designed to ensure that local law enforcement officials remain focused on community safety, and to ensure that people feel safe reporting crimes without fear of deportation.
In response to SB 54, the Tehama County Board of Supervisors voted in support of naming the county a “non-sanctuary” county for undocumented immigrants in 2017. It was one of the first California counties to do so.
The Shasta County Board of Supervisors enacted a resolution to express a similar non-sanctuary stance.
In fact, data reveals that hardcore immigration crackdowns, such as what’s currently being witnessed across the U.S. at the direction of President Trump and his administration, actually increases lawlessness by eroding trust in law enforcement and making people less likely to report serious crimes.
‘Get the fuck out of here!’
As the undocumented immigrant husband and the Hispanic woman were aggressively grabbed and detained by ICE agents at the Tehama County Jail, the undocumented immigrant’s wife attempted to question the ICE agents, and reason with them. In response, one of the ICE agents yelled at the wife, and asked if she was also planning to turn herself in.
The wife replied that she did not intend to turn herself in because she is a U.S. citizen.
“Then get the fuck out of here,” yelled the ICE agent.
“I was not in their way or nothing,” said the wife. “I was just trying to figure out what was going on.”
Following the harsh verbal confrontation by the ICE agent toward the undocumented immigrant’s wife, the correctional deputy who’d unlocked the door for the ICE agents informed the wife that her husband and the Hispanic woman were going to be deported.
The wife told the correctional deputy that her husband’s immigration lawyer had told them that ICE cannot legally deport her husband because they are married, and because she is a U.S. citizen.
The couple had met at an event in Red Bluff almost five years ago and have been married for nine months. The wife was originally from the Bay Area and moved to Tehama County about 12 years ago. The couple enjoys spending time with their family and attending family gatherings. They also enjoy going camping and spending time with their two dogs. They also enjoy watching movies together. The wife said her husband loves to dance, and described him as, “just a good person.”
“She just kept telling me no,” said the wife regarding the correctional deputy. “She told me my husband did not belong in the country.”
As the correctional deputy repeatedly told the woman that her husband didn’t belong in the country, the ICE continued yelling at the young wife to “get the fuck out.”
Later, the wife recounted feeling profoundly rattled by the ICE agents’ abusive language and unethical behavior. She and others want to know how ICE was notified that her husband and the Hispanic woman were in the waiting room at the jail facility.
“I gave him a kiss and they just took them out,” recalled the wife.
“I asked where he was going to go, and she told me that they will be moved to Redding, and then from Redding to Sacramento, and that was it and she just kept telling me to get out.”
The wife shared with A News Café that the correctional deputy had acted “strange” toward them since they arrived that morning. A News Café has information about the correctional deputy’s name and identity, but is not disclosing that information at this time.
Husband calls from Redding ICE facility
At around 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the undocumented detainee called his wife from the ICE facility located at 443 Redcliff Drive in Redding.
The call registered on her phone as coming from “DHS Ice.”
The husband shared with his wife that ICE officials told him that if he signed some paperwork, they would deport him to Mexico and release him in Tijuana just across the border.
The wife, at the advice of local Redding-area immigration advocates, insisted to the husband that he not sign any paperwork, because that could potentially lead to him being permanently banned from the U.S., and because there had been no due process.
Although the husband used Redding’s ICE facility phone to call her, his personal cell phone last pinged to the Redcliff Drive ICE facility in Redding before the phone stopped pinging – likely because it had been turned off.
As of Friday morning, the deportee’s name was listed on the ICE Online Detainee Locator System. However, his name had vanished from the database by Friday evening, leaving his wife in the dark regarding her husband’s location or status.
Deported to Mexico
After not hearing anything on Friday, on Saturday morning, the wife learned that her husband had been deported to Mexico when he called her from Tijuana.
The deportee had signed some kind of paperwork while in ICE custody, but the details of the paperwork are still unknown at this time.
However, what is known is that immediately after the detainee signed the paperwork, he was transported out of the Redding ICE facility, followed by stops in Sacramento and Bakersfield while in ICE custody, and was eventually released in Mexico.
It is not clear at this time where the deportee plans to go now, or if he will be able to secure food and shelter for himself while he navigates the streets of Tijuana. The Hispanic woman’s status is also unknown.
Stories of deportation
A civil rights and immigration advocate who provides help to North State immigrants is currently working with the detainee’s wife. The advocate requested their identity remains concealed so they can continue to provide confidential assistance to immigrants without risk of reprisal.
However, the advocate told A News Café they have heard numerous stories about people being detained and deported in the North State area.
They also disclosed that they have heard numerous stories about immigrants being afraid to leave their homes to do such things shop for groceries or even pick up medication, all to avoid being apprehended and deported.
“I have also spoken to religious leaders, a couple employees in the department of education, and even a few insurance agents, who all share stories of individuals who were recently deported without any criminal background,” reported the advocate regarding North State ICE detainments and deportations. “It happens frequently.”
An American dream wrecked
The deportee’s wife said that her husband made his journey to the U.S. several years ago in search of better opportunities.
“He wanted to have a better life,” she said.
During the couple’s time together, the wife lost a baby they had been expecting when the young mother miscarried.
“I don’t have my baby or my husband now,” the woman said.
The young woman is a U.S. born citizen of Mexican descent. Her deported husband is from Santiago de Querétaro, where he currently plans to stay with his parents until he can find a job and figure out his next steps.
Waiting for details from the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office
On Friday, A News Café spoke over the phone with TCSO Lieutenant Rob Bakken and asked if he knew anything about the ICE activity at the Tehama County Jail on Thursday. The jail is operated by the TCSO.
Bakken stated that he was not aware of any ICE activity at the Tehama County Jail.
A News Café then sent Lieutenant Bakken a follow-up email, after attempting to contact him again on the phone, to ask if the TCSO has worked in any capacity with ICE to detain and deport any undocumented individuals from Tehama County over the last several months.
A News Café is waiting to hear back from Lieutenant Bakken.
Per the recommendation of Lieutenant Bakken, A News Café also left a voicemail message on Friday for Lieutenant Steve Becker, the highest-ranking administrative law enforcement official at the Tehama County Jail, to ask about the way in which the TCSO is cooperating with ICE agents to detain and deport undocumented immigrants.
A News Café is waiting for a response from Lieutenant Becker.
The sound of anguish in the young woman’s voice was unmistakable as she described watching her husband being apprehended by ICE agents, and taken away without any explanation. She said the couple’s lives have been ripped apart because ICE used her husband’s legal compliance following a simple misdemeanor conviction as an opportunity to swoop in and abduct him without due process.
This couple’s story, and the uncertain fate of the middle-aged Hispanic woman in the waiting room, are not isolated incidents. They illustrate that ICE doesn’t limit its work to more urban areas, because clearly, ICE has invaded the North State.
Despite state laws that prohibit law enforcement agencies from cooperating directly with ICE to detain and deport individuals, here in the North State, the Tehama County Sheriff’s Office appears to be openly violating laws set up to protect immigrants and ensure due process and public safety.
A News Café will publish updates on the deportation incident reported in this story, and will continue to monitor emerging North State ICE activity.
If you or a loved one is a member of an immigrant and/or marginalized community and needs direct support and/or legal aid, contact the Northern California-based grass-roots mutual aid organization NorCal Resist either via its webpage, or by calling (916) 382-0256.
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