Woman’s arrest in Calif. draws criticism

Daughters cry as federal agents arrest mother on immigration violations

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — The U.S. Border Patrol drew criticism Friday for video that shows agents pulling a woman away from her anguished daughters on a street to arrest her on immigration violations.

The agency said Perla MoralesLuna was an “identified as an organizer for a transnational criminal smuggling organization,” but offered no information to support the claim. It is seeking to deport her for being in the country illegally and has said nothing about pursuing smuggling-related charges.

Video of the woman being pulled from her daughters on March 3 in National City, a San Diego suburb, drew nearly 10 million views on Facebook by Friday afternoon. At least one person can be heard crying uncontrollably as agents forced her into a vehicle and drove away.

The woman’s attorney, Andres Moreno II, said agents left the daughters — ages 17, 15 and 12 — alone on the street. The children, all U.S. citizens, are now living with family in the San Diego area.

Morales-Luna, 36, is a single mother who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 15 years old, Moreno said. She was walking with her daughters to pay rent when agents stopped her in what the Border Patrol said was “the result of a targeted operation.”

“You can do your job without causing such a dramatic separation of family members,” Moreno said. “It’s overkill.”

Morales-Luna denies being part of a smuggling organization and “has no idea what they’re talking about,” Moreno said.

Judith Castro-Rangel, who identifies herself as a special education aide on Facebook, posted the video on Thursday. She did not respond to an email and a receptionist at her school said she was not immediately available.

The Border Patrol transferred Morales-Luna to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Friday for deportation proceedings, said agency spokeswoman Lauren Mack. She referred questions about alleged smuggling activities to the Border Patrol.

Moreno said he will fight his client’s deportation.

Pedro Rios, director of the American Friends Service Committee’s U.S.-Mexico border program and frequent critic of the Border Patrol, said questions remain but that it appeared the agents acted inappropriately.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has said 65 percent of arrests from October to December were criminals, compared to 82 percent during the final full three months of the Obama administration.