By Fred Knapp, Nebraska Public Media
Douglas County Board President Roger Garcia says one of his relatives is among more than 70 people who were detained in an ICE raid in Omaha Tuesday.
At a news conference Wednesday, Douglas County Board President Roger Garcia said he supports law enforcement actions against serious criminals. But Garcia said that did not apply to many people detained by an ICE raid directed at people in the country without documentation.
“I have a loving wife, who many of you know in this audience,” he said. “Her aunt, her mother’s sister, has been detained. She’s lived here for decades. She’s raised a family here. She’s contributed back to the Omaha community and economy… We can assure you, she was not involved in any high-level criminal activity,” he said.
Garcia was asked how he would respond to someone who would say the people detained should have regularized their legal status. He said with a few exceptions, such as for victims of domestic violence, opportunities are limited.
“There’s often the notion that people should just get in line, but there often is no line to get into…for the millions across the nation that want to get in some kind of line and adjust their status, and continue contributing to society, that’s going to take a larger federal overhaul through a federal law,” he said.
Garcia said the family is not sure where his wife’s aunt and other detainees are.
“I heard that many were processed here at the Omaha office for Homeland Security,” he said. “But after that, where do they go? We don’t know, so we’re hoping that they don’t go far. For people that are able to stay in Nebraska somehow, it’s easier to get them legal representation (than) if they’re sent to a state far away, or maybe even to another country, which we’ve seen cases of that in this year.”
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