The wife and son of José Alvarez, the man who was deported after being held at the Cal State Long Beach University Police substation, demanded that CSULB help to bring Alvarez back to Long Beach at a May Day demonstration Sunday.
Infa Ortiz and Victor Alvarez were joined by hundreds of advocates for a wide range of causes including better working conditions, immigrant rights and police accountability at MacArthur Park in Cambodia Town before marching to Long Beach City Hall for a rally.
“[José] is not a criminal; he’s a father and a worker,” said Ortiz, one of a few speakers at the event. “Now I need all your support so that the university returns my husband.”
In response, the demonstrators began chanting, “We are people, we are not illegal.”
University Police Officer Ivan Sanchez held José Feb. 21 based on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainer after pulling him over for a broken headlamp. He was subsequently turned over to ICE and deported to Tijuana four hours later.
The Daily 49er first chronicled the incident last week in the in-depth story, “Man held for deportation by CSULB PD because of 21-year-old drug offense.”
The march to city hall drew an estimated 250 people including representatives from organizations such as Black Lives Matter Long Beach, the Filipino Migrant Center and Building Healthy Communities Long Beach.
BHC Hub Coordinator James Suazo, a CSULB alumni, said he has been working with some local organizations that have been supporting the Alvarez family.
“I think CSULB can leverage its partnership within the community — and I think the role it plays as a major anchor in our community — to help pressure … our representatives to really help amend this injustice and do what they can to work with the multiple agencies involved,” Suazo said.
Ortiz said she hoped to stop police from doing to other people what they did to her husband.
“They didn’t give him a chance to see a lawyer, to seek out bond, they just deported him,” she said.
Last Wednesday, CSULB Chief of Police Fernando Solorzano issued Interim General Order 55, which says the University Police Department will not cooperate with ICE by holding undocumented foreign nationals whether or not that person has an immigration hold.
“That’s a great first step for Cal State Long Beach,” Suazo said. “Long Beach is one of 23 [CSU] campuses throughout California, so I think the next step is really to push to make sure this doesn’t happen at any other campus.”