On June 11, community groups including the Sacramento Immigration Alliance, California Immigrant Youth Justice Alliance, Council for American Islamic Relations, Party for Socialism & Liberation, the Asian Law Caucus, and ACLU along with the family of Martin Del Agua held a press conference to condemn the Sacramento sheriff’s department for its blatant disregard of civil rights.
On February 7, 2014 Sacramento law enforcement responded to a “noise complaint” at 7pm on a Friday at the residence of the Del Agua family. The cops brutalized Martin Del Agua slamming him into a trash can as well as breaking his phone. What started as a noise complaint turned into the sheriff’s office allowing an ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) hold to be placed on Del Agua for more than 2 days while in their custody, violating the TRUST Act.
Julie Del Agua spoke with Liberation News regarding the false imprisonment of her husband Martin: “I was shocked because I was told originally that there were no charges against him and that he would be released in two hours… [the effects of a deportation] would be huge because my husband would be separated from us and it would be possible that my kids would never see their father again”.
Following the press conference the people submitted a tort claim against the sheriff’s office for the false imprisonment of Del Agua. Those filing the claim are seeking damages from the sheriff’s department for its unjust actions and to hold the system accountable. They will to continue mobilizing the community until racism is eradicated.
