Bail set for woman arrested by ICE despite being in the process of obtaining citizenship

By THE STAR STAFF

Immigration Judge Elvin Talavera Peraza released Inocencia Rodríguez on bail Tuesday while her immigration proceedings continue, ACLU of Puerto Rico Executive Director Annette Martínez Orabona announced.

“We welcome the fact that Inocencia can remain free, alongside her family and community,” Martínez Orabona said in a written statement. “However, this victory does not erase the injustice of her detention, nor does it make a $5,000 bail amount reasonable. Inocencia poses no flight risk and should never have been detained in the first place. Imposing a financial burden on her to retain a freedom that the government illegally stripped away only prolongs the harm and unfairly punishes both her and her family.”

Martínez Orabona criticized the federal judge’s decision to set bail at that amount, noting that a lower figure could have been imposed.

“The fact that Inocencia is regaining her freedom today demonstrates the importance of challenging government abuses and demanding that the courts fulfill their responsibility to protect fundamental rights,” stated attorney María “Charito” del Rosario García, Inocencia’s immigration lawyer and director of the Immigration Clinic at the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. “However, we cannot normalize a situation where a person who has been illegally detained must post thousands of dollars in bail to return home.” 

“The government must be held accountable for the illegality of this detention and for the way its officials ignored evidence contained in their own files,” added ACLU of Puerto Rico Legal Director Fermín Arraiza Navas.

Rodríguez was arrested on Friday, July 10 during a vehicle operation at an access checkpoint in Guaynabo.