Deportation Fear Stops Mother From Claiming Son Picked Up by INS

The mother of a 13-year-old boy, who said he was riding his bicycle to school in Orange when Immigration and Naturalization Service agents picked him up last week, said Sunday that she dare not claim her son at a juvenile detention facility in Tijuana.

“I cannot go because if I do, I am fearful that I won’t be able to come back,” the mother of Victor Amador Garcia said.

The distraught woman, reached in Orange on Sunday, said she has a 6-year-old daughter living with her, has no job and little ability to help her son, who was deported by the INS last Thursday and turned over to Mexican authorities.

Victor’s mother, who spoke on condition that she not be identified, said she plans to contact her 19-year-old daughter in Veracruz, Mexico, and ask her to travel by bus to Tijuana to seek her brother’s release. Victor, a sixth-grader, remained in a Mexican juvenile facility Sunday.

INS officials have said they detained the boy at the corner of Almond Avenue and Main Street in Orange because he interfered with a sweep of undocumented workers in the area by “riding back and forth” on his bicycle yelling “la migra” to warn others that INS vans were approaching. Victor was one of about 100 suspected illegal aliens rounded up by the INS early Thursday.

The INS does not typically pick up unaccompanied children suspected of being undocumented immigrants, INS Regional Commissioner Harold W. Ezell said this weekend. The boy drew attention to himself by yelling warnings to others, Ezell said. He acknowledged that this was an unusual case.

Victor, however, told a different story, claiming he was on his way to buy candy before heading to school when he was stopped by the INS. He said he did not shout to anyone and that the street was empty.

The corner of Almond Avenue and Main Street is near Chapman Avenue in Orange, an area targeted by INS for regular sweeps of suspected illegals, who gather to await employers cruising by one of Orange County’s more popular day-labor pick-up points.

Victor’s mother said Sunday that she was unaware that the INS had picked up her son until the following day.

“It was on Thursday, he left to go to school. That is the last I saw of him. All he did was get on his bicycle and head toward the school. And then I didn’t hear from him,” the woman said.

She said she became worried when Victor did not get home from school that afternoon. She said she called his school, but no one there could help her. The next day, his mother called again and a teacher at the school--whose name she said she cannot remember--told her that she had tried unsuccessfully to win the boy’s release.

Victor’s mother said her son’s deportation has been traumatic for her, and her limited options have not made it any easier.

Also Faces Deportation

If she steps forward, the woman--who has lived in Orange illegally for about a year--also would face deportation.

Ezell said INS releases unaccompanied minors only to legal guardians, a relative with permission from a guardian or authorities from the juvenile’s country.

When he was first apprehended, the boy told INS agents that his parents lived in Culiacan in the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

In an interview, Victor said he lied about his mother’s whereabouts to protect her. He explained that she fears the INS, and he has steadfastedly refused to give authorities information about his mother or her whereabouts.

Meanwhile, he was staying at the Consejo de Orientacion y Re-educacion para Menores de Conducta Anti-social, an austere two-story facility in Tijuana that looks as though it is an abandoned building.

The youth, who has said that he is not afraid, nonetheless appeared frightened during an interview. Although he is somewhat anxious, Victor said Sunday, “They are treating me well here. It’s not that bad.”

Most Trying to Cross Border

Ezell said agents pick up between 50 and 60 juveniles daily--most of them trying to cross the border to the United States.

Asked if agents look the other way if a suspected illegal is a minor, Ezell would only say that the INS responds to citizens’ complaints. Recently, agents have placed a concerted effort on responding to citizens’ complaints of illegals who congregate at street corners waiting for employers. Many residents claim they find the loitering workers threatening and a nuisance.

“That’s what we’re after. And we’ve got our hands full,” Ezell said.