Merced County mom set to come home after nearly a year in ICE custody, attorneys say

Sonia Felix Castanon was detained and separated from her family by ICE officials about 11 months ago despite an immigration judge granting her the right to remain in the United States permanently, her attorneys said.

Supporters rallying for the release of the Delhi mother of four children had planned a vigil Thursday night to demand federal immigration authorities release her from custody.

Those supporters got their wish a day early.

“We got a call from a deportation officer that she would be released (Wednesday),” Edwin Carmona-Cruz said. Carmona-Cruz is with Pangea Legal Services, a nonprofit organization helping people like Felix Castanon in their immigration cases.

Carmona-Cruz said Felix Castanon is expected to attend Thursday night’s vigil, which was planned for 7 p.m. in front of U.S. Rep. Jim Costa’s office at 2222 M St., in Merced.

In the wake of Felix Castanon’s release, organizers now plan to denounce ICE’s activities, including recent revelations the federal agency has been arresting people at county courthouses in the San Joaquin Valley.

Two people have been arrested by ICE agents outside courthouses in Merced County since February, according to Merced County Sheriff’s Capt. Corey Gibson.

Delhi resident Pedro Cruz Ortiz had pleaded not guilty before appearing at a preliminary hearing on felony charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition on Feb. 5 at Merced Superior Court in Merced, according to Gibson and court records.

After the hearing, Cruz Ortiz was remanded into custody on a federal warrant and he was arrested outside the courthouse by ICE agents, Gibson said.

On June 4, Stevinson resident Floriberto Molinanunez was at the Robert M. Falasco Justice Center in Los Banos appearing at a pre-preliminary hearing on a felony charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and misdemeanor charges of cultivation of more than six plants of marijuana and possession with intent to sell.

Those charges were dropped and federal authorities picked up the case, Gibson said.

When ICE officers visit the Merced or Los Banos courthouses, a Merced County sheriff’s court staff notifies court administration if they enter the courthouse, according to Merced Superior Court CEO Linda Romero-Soles.

“ICE agents are to limit their activities to the public areas of the courthouse and not disrupt court proceedings,” Romero-Soles said in an email. “Any arrests by ICE agents should be made outside of the courtroom.”

ICE agents also have been detaining individuals at Fresno Superior Court, the Fresno Bee reported.

The practice of picking up undocumented immigrants at courthouses has attorneys and advocates concerned.

“It’s very concerning because it’s going to make people afraid to show up to the courthouse,” said Blanca Ojeda, an advocate with Faith in the Valley.

ICE officials say they detain and arrest individuals at courthouses in part because the State of California “has made it difficult for ICE to streamline apprehending criminal aliens released from local custody and ICE must instead use other methods to apprehend individuals when we know their expected locations,” spokesperson Richard Rocha said.

Additionally, Rocha said, courthouse security screening ensures those taken into ICE custody won’t have any weapons.

But the prospect of ICE detaining and arresting a defendant who is presumed innocent until proven guilty also concerned Public Defender David Elgin, who said the arrest would throw a presumption of innocence out the window.

Rob Carroll, Merced County chief deputy district attorney, said an ICE arrest of someone out-of-custody, and likely non-violent, could have the “chilling effect” of encouraging defendants to avoid the courthouse.

“We just want to get our cases done timely,” Carroll said.

California Supreme Court Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye has been vocal about her opposition to the practice of courthouse arrests in the past and asked for that kind of activity by ICE to be halted in California courthouses.

State Sen. Ricardo Lara, is the author of Senate Bill 183, which would prevent those kinds of arrests in courthouses and court proceedings. “Our leaders have asked the federal government to cease the stalking of immigrants in our courts, but they are treated with contempt,” he said in a statement to The Bee.

“California must protect the public’s right to participate in court proceedings and permit the courts to fulfill their responsibility in our society.” He said arrests in courthouses, such as the ones that have transpired at the Fresno in recent days, “have a chilling effect on our democracy.”

Fresno Bee reporters Yesenia Amaro and Pablo Lopez contributed to this report.