Highland Park Man In Controversial ICE Arrested Gets Reprieve From Deportation

HIGHLAND PARK, CA — A Highland Park man at the center of a dramatic video of a Immigration officers arresting him near is daughter's school as she sobs helplessly has been granted a temporary deportation reprieve.

The order by the Board of Immigration Appeals Monday means Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez will be allowed to stay in the country while the board considers his case. He will remain in custody at a detention center in San Bernardino County.

Avelica-Gonzalez was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement personnel while dropping off one of his daughters at Academia Avance in Highland Park on Feb. 28. He has lived in the country for 25 years and his case gained widespread attention with the dissemination of the video footage.

City Councilman Gil Cedillo last week called for the release of Avelica-Gonzalez.

"Justice delayed is justice denied. Mr. Romulo has been detained and kept away from his family for more than six months," Cedillo said at a rally for Avelica-Gonzalez in downtown's Pershing Square. "And as he is on the verge of being deported we stand here in unity and solidarity to make it clear to all those who are here, that we will fight for justice, that there cannot be justice until Mr. Romulo is released and returned to his family."

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City News Service contributed to this report.