Three of the day laborers detained during a raid by the Border Patrol outside a Home Depot store in the city of Pomona were released from immigration detention after paying bail and placing an electronic monitoring bracelet on their ankles.

The The Guatemalan day laborers who were released are Jesús Domingo Ros, Yoni Ronaldo Jacinto García, and Edwin Roberto Juarez Cobon. The three were detained for more than two months at the Imperial Regional Detention Facility in Calexico, California. La Opinión was able to speak with Jesús Domingo Ros, a 38-year-old day laborer who was released along with Yoni Ronaldo on June 26. "I was released after paying $7,500 bail, just like Yoni Ronaldo. I know that Edwin paid more than $10,000. They put the electronic bracelet on all three of us, but on the first appointment, they took it off me and put a monitoring watch on me, which is less bothersome," says Jesus Domingo, who considers himself an indigenous Mayan.

"They put that bracelet on us as if we were terrorists or had a criminal record, so we wouldn't escape. In fact, we are prohibited from leaving California."

What Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is doing is monitoring immigrants released from custody through the Intensive Supervision Appearance Program (ISAP), which involves placing electronic monitoring bracelets or watches on them to know where they are; but he also forces them to show up at his offices for appointments to inspect their equipment.

In the case of the day laborers released after their arrest in Pomona, they must repeatedly show up at the ISAP facilities in San Bernardino.

I've already been to two appointments, and I'm very nervous. I just ask God to give me the strength to resolve all of this. I have no criminal record in Guatemala or the United States.

He adds that he feels very bad because he is not a criminal, nor an arms trafficker. However, they treat him as if he were.

Every time I've gone to court, I have promised them that I will comply with all the requirements they ask of me, but even so they do not take away my monitoring watch.

Jesus Domingo emigrated from Guatemala three years ago in search of a more stable income to support his partner and his three children, all minors. The last one was born a month after he arrived in this country.

In these three years I have always worked as a day laborer, he says.

But that was not the case.

On the least expected day, April 22, they raided around the Home Depot in San Bernardino. Three other classmates and I were at a gas station about a block away when undercover immigration agents took us by surprise. We tried to hide so they wouldn't arrest us, but we couldn't," he says. Jesús Domingo says his world fell apart when they arrested him. "I was scared, stressed, and anxious in the van they were taking us in. I ended up leaving everything in God's hands and giving myself courage, thinking that everything would be fine, because I'm not a criminal.

The two months he spent in the ICE Detention Center in Calexico were a complete nightmare, trapped by feelings of worry and the fear of being deported.

When he was able to get out free, he says the first thing he did was thank God and pray inside.

I thanked God for the opportunity, and I told him that in his hands everything would be okay.

His greatest joy upon regaining his freedom was being able to see and talk on the phone with his three children.

Jesus Domingo secured his release thanks to the legal support provided by the University of Southern California (USC) Immigrant Rights Clinic.

"I didn't know until I got out. I am so grateful from the bottom of my heart to all the people who helped me, and I would like to give them a hug," he says.

"I pray to God that all this sacrifice is worth it." My greatest wish is to have a work permit and provide for my family."

They say they live in an area where there are many threats from drug cartels, so he wants to get them out of there and raise money to build them a house in a safe place in Guatemala where he can return and reunite with his family.

Unfortunately, since he left ICE custody, he has not been able to work.

"I have three brothers who help me with food. I used to contribute to the rent, but since ICE banned me from working, I haven't been able to help them. I also have a sponsor who has committed to giving me a room.

Defense and Bonds

Alexis Teodoro, director of workers' rights at the Pomona Economic Opportunity Center, says the release of the three day laborers was possible thanks to the legal defense carried out by the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of Southern California.

"We have a collaboration where they represent pro bono (donation) to the day laborers."

He specifies that the bonds were paid thanks to donations from the community on the Inland Coalition Immigrant Justice site that was opened to support the 15 day laborers detained in the April 22 raid, where they remain. collecting donations. You can still donate at: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/jornaleros

Most of the day laborers detained in that raid have already been deported. We released these three, and two Salvadoran day laborers remain in detention, but they have their own lawyers . He reveals that from April to date, they have documented the arrest of between 50 and 60 day laborers in immigration raids at Home Depots in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

They detain them Gavilan-style. They put them in vans and take them away quickly, he comments.

It was an intense fight to free these three day laborers. Several factors intervened. Thousands of people called the Detention Center and sent emails asking for release. They even knew us by name because we insisted so much."

He says they discovered that ICE fabricated criminal charges against them and wanted to deport them immediately, spreading lies like they had been in the country less than a year, when each of them had lived here for more than three years.

"The focus of the defense going forward is the fight to have their deportation orders lifted, and we have spoken with Congresswoman Norma Torres to have their electronic shackles removed because the day laborers are not criminals."