I had previously written that I suspected that the Harris County Sheriff’s Department was working with ICE. I am now convinced that the following factors led me to that conclusion.
According to a police report, Margarita was cutting weeds in a residential area in Spring, about 10 feet from a postal worker who was delivering to a community mailbox and asked Margarita to turn off the weed eater until she finished.
Margarita couldn’t hear her over the machine, the police report says, so the postal worker yelled to get her attention. The worker, who claimed Margarita hit her with the weed eater, called the police. When Margarita produced a Belize identification card, the deputy took her to jail on suspicion of assault — a charge that was later dropped. But it was too late — within a day, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement plucked her from the Harris County Jail.
The only way Trump’s storm troopers would have found that Margarita was being held in Harris County would have been if the Sheriff’s department had called them. The charge was dropped, and Margarita had no prior criminal history, so she was not on the warrant list that HPD uses. She had no deportation order or at least the article did not suggest that there was such an order. The only way I can think of for ICE to know Margarita was in jail is if they were informed.
Every police agency is denying working with ICE, but I seriously doubt that to be the case. They should tell the public what is happening so that families can prepare themselves.
Gonzalez had been considered for leading ICE.
Gonzalez has been a target of Republican senators on the committee because of past comments about ICE and immigration policy under former President Donald Trump. In particular, Gonzalez has been critical of the 287(g) program, which allows ICE to coordinate with local law enforcement in detaining people accused of immigration offenses. Gonzalez said during his July 15 confirmation hearing that he had no intention to end the program if confirmed, but still faced harsh criticism from GOP lawmakers.
