HOUSTON, Texas – Oscar Gato Sanchez dressed up for his day at immigration court. The 25-year-old wore red button-downs, black slacks and dress shoes.
It was a Monday afternoon in June, and Cuban immigrant Gato Sanchez came to present himself before a US immigration judge.
When he sat inside a Texas courtroom, he had no reason to suspect that the court would ultimately hear his case.
Gato Sanchez had sought asylum on the basis that if he returned to Cuba, his life would be in danger. Human rights groups then denounced the government for oppression and torture, and Gat Sanchez feared the impact of attending the recent anti-government protests on the island.
While he waited for him to go before the judge, his aunt asked not to name him for fear of retaliation, but sat in the room outside. She was worried. The clock seemed to move more slowly than usual.
“What’s taking so long?” his aunt, a Houston resident, asked a friend next to her.
But the two women weren’t the only ones waiting outside the courtroom. Near the elevator, four men were sitting in plain street clothes, staring at their mobile phones.
Around 3:15pm, Gato Sanchez emerged from the courtroom holding a folder of documents in his hand. As soon as he did, four men surrounded him. It was as if they already knew that the Gato Sanchez case had been dismissed.
They were federal agents and they were in court to detain Gato Sanchez as soon as his case was abandoned.
His aunt was desperate. She tried to seek information. However, the only details the man gives her was that her nephew was sent to Conroe, Texas, the location of the largest detention center in the Houston area.
The men didn’t even tell them whether they were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) or if they came from another federal law enforcement agency.
“Why, God, did they do this?” his aunt cried, overcoming the emotions. When the agent took Gato Sanchez away, his aunt’s friend cried out to him.
“You’re not a bad person,” she said in tears.
Gato Sanchez is one of hundreds who were recently taken into custody shortly after leaving the immigration hearing. Advocates fear that court arrests not only violate legitimate processes’ rights, but also discourage immigrants from pursuing legal measures to stay in the United States.
“These are people doing the right thing,” said Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the Houston immigration rights nonprofit Feel.
“You are between a rock and a difficult place. If you don’t show up, they will take you.
