Description
AUSTIN, Texas (KEYE) — CBS Austin cameras were rolling as a group of approximately 20 Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees were escorted from the J.J. Pickle Federal Building in downtown Austin and onto waiting buses Wednesday.
The detainees were then transported to an unknown location, this follows a series of ICE operations in the city that began on Sunday.
The scene was emotional as family members stood nearby saying goodbye, not knowing where their loved ones were going or when they might see them again.
One of those family members was Thalia Gutierrez, whose mother was among those being transported.
As her mother, Tatiana Luna Bonito, walked onto a bus in shackles, surrounded by ICE officers, Gutierrez was heard yelling, "Be careful, take care of yourself, I'm calling our lawyer, I love you so much!"
"[ICE] took [my mom] today from her house, it was a bunch of cops undercover with black jackets, they just came to her house undercover and took her to this building right here," Gutierrez explained.
Federal and local officials in Austin have stated that these targeted ICE raids were exclusively focused on immigrants who have committed violent crimes.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis confirmed in an interview with CBS Austin Tuesday, "Yes, I called ICE and they said these were violent offenders."
RELATED| Federal building in Austin used as ICE detainment center, according to Mexican Consulate
However, CBS Austin ran the criminal history of Luna Bonito and found she had several non-violent charges out of Williamson County.
In 2020, she was charged with felony possession of marijuana and cocaine, and in 2024, she was charged with failure to report injury in a traffic accident, leaving the scene of a crash, which is a Class C Misdemeanor.
This comes after an NBC investigation found that nearly half of the 1,200 migrants detained across the country on Sunday did not have criminal records.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated in a press conference Wednesday, "The President has said that of course the illegal criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers absolutely those should be the priority of ICE."
CBS Austin has reached out to ICE and the Mexican Consulate for information on the number of people detained, the next steps in immigration proceedings, and where the bus filled with detainees will be heading, but are still waiting to hear back.
"They haven't given me any information, nothing, about my mom," Gutierrez said.
She also expressed concern that her mother's situation is not unique, stating that she believes there are "a hundred more people" detained in the same building.
News Source : https://wfxl.com/news/nation-world/i-love-you-so-much-ice-detainees-get-bussed-to-unknown-location-as-loved-ones-watch
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