Rep. Joaquin Castro will visit an ICE detention center, advocating for the release of a family mistakenly detained while seeking asylum.
SAN ANTONIO — Rep. Joaquin Castro (D) is joining other leaders Tuesday in pushing for the release of families from the ICE detention Center in Dilly as an Alamo Heights man continues his fight to be reunited with is wife and sons.
Victor Labrador’s two sons, Victor and Monseratt, and his wife, Betania, were taken into custody last Monday. Since then, they have been in the Dilley ICE facility awaiting a hearing and word on when they will be reunited.
Labrador says his sons and wife were waiting for a school bus when they were taken by ICE. He said he had been walking with the family when he turned back to the apartment for his keys. When he went back to the bus stop, he saw his family surrounded by ICE. According to Labrador, Betania was told by ICE she resembled another woman they were looking for who also had two children.
The family is originally form Venezuela and were seeking asylum in the U.S. They had a court date scheduled for 2027. Labrador says they have complied with all the prior immigration requirements and have attended all the hearings they were supposed to.
Tuesday, Labrador says there is a hearing for the family scheduled in Pearsall. Rep. Joaquin Castro said on X that he is in touch with the father and plans on visiting the family today during a previously scheduled visit to Dilley.
He will be joined by Rep. Henry Cuellar (D), Rep. Silvia Garcia (D), and others. They will be holding a news conference calling for the release of children and families at the detention center.
Tuesday, ICE issued the following statement in regards to the family being taken into custody:
“On April 27, ICE arrested Maria Betania Uzategui-Castillo, an illegal alien from Venezuela and her two minor children who are also illegally in the country. They illegally entered the U.S. from Mexico on December 4, 2021, and were RELEASED into the country by the Biden administration. This administration is not going to ignore the rule of law.
Parents can take control of their departure with the CBP Home app and reserve the chance to come back the right legal way. The United States is offering illegal aliens $2,600 and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
Castro said ICE agents targeted the family at a bus stop and lied to them during their arrest, leading them to end up in the Dilley ICE facility.
He added that Victor was crying because he was afraid he was going to miss his 5th grade graduation and shared the following letters that both he and Monseratt wrote to their father expressing their love for him and giving a look into the tragic reality several of these kids are going through at a young age:
“Hello daddy, I love you very much and miss you very much,” Victor wrote.
“I miss you very much and I hope you’re okay, tell everyone from my class hello,” wrote Monseratt.
Castro said about 93 kids and 396 adults are currently being held at the detention center that he plans to help shut down.
He said we will look back on this period of time in shame as innocent kids are being traumatized and families are being torn apart.