After surprise arrest, Mexican mother freed
May stay with family as residency application processed
An undocumented Mexican immigrant held for about 10 days after showing up for an interview with immigration authorities in Las Vegas was released Friday morning, advocacy groups said.
Cecilia Gomez, 46, was released from Eloy Detention Center in Arizona after she was detained in late March by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in Las Vegas and placed on a bus bound for the U.s.-mexico border, according to a joint release from multiple advocacy groups.
She walked into the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Las Vegas on March 27 for an interview to process her permanent residency application, thinking she was close to becoming a U.S. citizen.
Instead she was told she was the subject of a deportation order issued about 20 years ago. She was then pinned against a table by ICE officials, according to her attorney, Laura Barrera.
Advocacy groups attributed her Friday morning release to pressure from family, community groups and elected officials.
“This past week has been some of the most difficult days of my life,” Gomez said in a statement. “I arrived at USCIS thinking that after 20 years of trying I would finally become a permanent resident — but instead I was detained by ICE, brutally slammed on a table and later placed on a flight headed to Mexico.”
Gomez gave thanks to her family and for the strong community support.
“This incident has been traumatic, and now I am happy to be home and am encouraged to continue fighting for my right to remain with my family,” she said.
At the behest of Gomez’s family, Barrera filed a motion to reopen
RESIDENCY
our peak days on Monday and Tuesday.”
Tony Illia, a spokesman for the Nevada Department of Transportation, said he expects few of the conventioneers to rent cars and will instead rely on taxicabs, ride-hailing apps and the Las Vegas Monorail to get around town.
However, locals can still expect heavier traffic than usual on Paradise Road, between Sahara and Twain avenues, along with Convention Center Drive between Paradise and Las Vegas Boulevard, said Amanda Arentsen, a spokeswoman with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The authority is working with the Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada’s traffic management center to adjust the timing on traffic signals, while officers from the Metropolitan Police Department will assist with pedestrian traffic, Arentsen said.
Service aboard the Strip and Downtown Express bus will start two hours earlier than usual at 7 a.m. from Monday to Thursday,
RTC spokesman Brad Seidel said. The RTC will also provide additional buses along routes traveling near the convention center to maintain on-time performance, including the Centennial Express and Route 203.
“We recommend for all large conventions that if you don’t have business in the area, it is best to avoid it,” Seidel said. “If you do need to be in the area, then allow yourself some extra travel time.”
Mccarran International Airport could see an unusually high number of travelers Thursday and Friday as conventioneers head home. Airport officials are working with the Transportation Security Administration to ensure the proper staffing levels for security checkpoints, Mccarran spokesman Chris Jones said.
“NAB is a big show, but it’s nothing on the level of CES,” Jones said. “Mccarran has a long history with this event so barring something unforeseen, I wouldn’t expect travelers to experience anything unusual here when leaving Las Vegas after the show.”
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal. com or 702-383-0336. Follow @ Amarroquin_lv on Twitter.