By The Vanguard Staff
MARYSVILLE, CA – The last person detained by ICE at the Yuba County Jail was released Wednesday – along with news that members of Congress are asking all ICE detention centers in California, including the embattled Yuba County Jail, be shuttered.
After more than three years of incarceration, Ricardo Vasquez Cruz walked out of the jail after a series of actions by immigrant advocates and lawmakers. Cruz is now reunited with his mother, 18-year-old son, sister, extended family and community.
“I’m content to be with my family. I never stopped fighting to stop my deportation, get released, and stay here with my family. I don’t have the words to express how I feel, how it feels to be with my family again. Thank you to everyone who worked to support me and helped fight for my liberty,” said the newly freed Cruz.
A letter led by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren and Congressman Lou Correa, co-signed by 22 members of Congress, to Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, demands the termination of 
contracts with Yuba Jail and other state ICE detention facilities.
“Our office and the community kept pushing for Ricardo’s release and together we made it resoundingly clear that there was no justification for his detention. This is what community power looks like,” said San Francisco Public Defender Mano Raju.
According to a press statement from Raju’s office, the “Free the Yuba 11 Campaign Coalition” with Ricardo’s family and his attorney, San Francisco Deputy Public Defender Jennifer Friedman, “spearheaded Ricardo’s release campaign which involved community rallies, vigils, and congressional pressure.”
The Public Defender’s office said “Ricardo also led hunger strikes at the jail to improve the inhumane conditions immigrants were subjected to. The campaign crossed off its penultimate goal with Ricardo’s release. Now the question remains: With zero people detained at Yuba, will ICE shut down this facility?
The grassroots campaign released its own statement, explaining, “We are thrilled to know Ricardo is back in his community and will finally be able to get the urgent medical attention that he was denied for more than three years inside Yuba County Jail! The FreeTheYuba11 campaign is one of many site-fights across the country demanding the shutdown of all immigrant detention centers.
“This campaign has shown the impact the community-legal partnership can have to demonstrate community-based care is the alternate vision to incarceration. The campaign uplifted the humanity of each individual, showed us our need for each other, and a world without cages where we can all heal,” the campaign wrote.
The campaign said a planned vigil for Cruz’ release Oct. 30 at Dolores Park in San Francisco will now become “a community celebration in which formerly detained individuals, their families, advocates, legal service providers and supporters of the FreeTheYuba11 campaign will celebrate Ricardo’s release, remember the lives lost in immigrant detention, and stand in solidarity for those who remain detained.”
The end of the Trump era.
It’s more the end of the Obama era:
Ibid. Exact same source… an inconvenient ‘fact’ left out of the quote noted…
Goes towards the old “saw”, “Figures don’t lie, but liars can figure”…
It should also be acknowledged that the Obama administration lasted 8 years… not 4 years like the Trump one (unless you watch Fox-like sources, and believe Trump is still president)
Trump was never referred to as the “Deporter-In-Chief” as Obama was.
That title was given to him by Janet Murguía, the president of National Council of La Raza, hardly a right winger.
Obama wasn’t the one that created Title 42
Yeah, that was a different Democrat.
Why didn’t you post this part of that article David?
Was it because Biden was president over most of those months? Is that why you didn’t post a link to the article?
Newsflash: Obama was not the flaming liberal that some portrayed him during his presidency. This is just one of many many examples. Nevertheless, having covered the courts through most of Obama’s term and most of Trump’s term, the issue of immigrant detention only really became hugely salience in 2017 to the present, there was not the ongoing threat previously to incarcerated immigrants – even those here legally.
Did you mean to say bleeding heart liberal? “Flaming” usually has other connotations.
With that hybrid/hairdo, I’m not sure we should be talking about “flaming”. 🙂
I’m still trying to figure out the reason that it kind of “works”, in a somewhat unsettling manner.
I’m certainly willing to hear the argument for certain people or groups of people not being incarcerated, but “a world without cages” ?
Free-range people. They cost a little more (and require more “open space”), but at least they might not be genetically-engineered.
There is a prison abolition movement
Yes in a time of declared war, and great fear of immigrants… again, you tell only a piece of the story and cherry-pick… a time when Germans, Italians, Japanese, Jews (they would create the risks that led to the holocaust) were feared… that that latter refugees actually turned away mid-ocean, not allowed to land… we certainly want to perpetuate THAT, right?
When did your ancestors come to the US? What were the requirements for ‘entry’? Mine came before Ellis Island… and all of the laws since ~ 1870…
That’s a good point Bill. For instance, my family came around the turn of the 20th century. They were fleeing pogroms in East Europe. My understanding is pretty much everyone who didn’t come at that time, ended up dying in the holocaust. Maybe why I’m sensitive to immigration issues.
https://wikiality.fandom.com/wiki/Department_of_Homeland_Security?file=Original-homeland-security.jpg
Immigration is very complex, David…
There are those who immigrated in chain, as slaves… there are those who immigrated as “indentured servants”, one notch above slaves (without visible chains)… there are those who immigrated due to religious/political persecution in their home countries (from the early 1600’s, and still, today… think those trying to escape ‘pogroms’ fit in one or both)… there are those needing to escape famine (Irish in the 1800’s, still today, from other areas)…
Any surprise Haitians, Central Americans, folk from SE Asia, mid-East, are looking to a “change of venue”? Like folk have done for hundreds of years?
Please note the policies of “progressive” countries/states… Canada, England, France, etc., etc, etc. Good luck finding a job or becoming a citizen there, unless you’re “grandfathered” in… the US is indeed ‘messed up’ on immigration/citizenship issues… but not the worst… not even close…
And for those who regale against the absence of “the Wall”, lack of tight “exclusionary” policies… would your ancestors have passed those “tests”? We ought to rip down the poem by Emma Lazarus from a landmark offshore of NYC… heck rip the entire monument down… it appears it is “out-dated”… politically incorrect ‘symbol’ to many… [but we’d be ripping down what many call, “the world’s largest battery”]
A lot of this so reminds me of folk @ CC meetings, vigorously asserting, “I’m a long time resident! Been here 5 years! Davis is growing too fast!!!” I cringe and laugh… I consider myself a “newbie”… only been in town 50 years… I know many who have been, or whose parents/grandparents have been here much longer.
Matters of perspective, which we are all entitled to… [note to VG and Moderator(s)… this was cut off well within the 5 minute shot clock… yeah know that might exceed the 5 comment limit]
Five comment rule is in effect. Some have reached their limit for this article today.