A Long Beach father with no criminal record has been deported to Tijuana just two days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raid on Thursday, Nov. 20.
Telemundo Los Angeles reported Alberto Mota’s deportation on Monday. Mota was one of at least nine people detained by ICE in Long Beach last week, when federal agents swarmed the city across at least eight locations. Mota told Telemundo that he was denied access to a lawyer during his two days in a detention center and deported to Tijuana by Sunday, Nov. 23.
Mota was the main provider for his family, and his wife and young daughter are now raising funds in order to pay their rent and purchase groceries, and to help Mota start his new life in Tijuana. According to the family’s GoFundMe, Mota has no criminal record and was deported without signing any paperwork.
Mota was working when ICE agents detained him. According to Telemundo, Mota and his coworkers were about to start working on a house in Long Beach when two trucks arrived with federal agents. Knowing they were about to be arrested, Mota said he ran in order to protect his friends.
“They arrived, said ‘good morning,’ and what I did immediately, because I knew they were going to grab us, was I ran to save my friends and I actually succeeded. I ran quite a distance and threw myself down. I pretended to fall so they would grab me and I told them: “Go, go so I can save you,” Mota told Telemundo.
Donate to the Mota family through their GoFundMe here.
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