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Houston family wants answers after loved one detained by ICE
A Houston family is holding onto hope and demanding answers after Joceline Penaloza was taken into ICE custody after a traffic stop coming home from work. FOX 26's Angie Rodriguez spoke with the family.
HOUSTON - A Houston family is holding onto hope and demanding answers after 24-year-old Joceline Penaloza was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) following an August traffic stop.
Woman detained by ICE
What we know:
According to her family, Joceline Penaloza has lived in southwest Houston for nearly two decades after being brought to the United States from Mexico in 2007 at roughly 5-years-old.
Joceline's sister says she graduated in the top 10% of her high school class and has never had a criminal conviction, or even a traffic citation.
Cynthia explained that despite high academic marks, her sister's legal status prevented her from pursuing higher education.
"She's a very smart person, and I know if she would have gotten the opportunity to study and go to college, it would have been better for her," an emotional Cynthia said. "Because she's undocumented, she wasn't able to. But she was top ten of her class, a very smart person, and she cares for the people she knows, even the people she doesn't know."
Why was Joceline Penaloza detained?
According to her family’s attorney, the encounter happened on Aug. 19 when a Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Penaloza near Highway 6 and Westheimer Road in the Eldridge/West Oaks area because her car was partially stopped in an intersection.
Penaloza’s sister, Cynthia Penaloza, stated that Joceline was driving home from work at the time. Cynthia told FOX 26 that following the initial stop, her sister was forced to wait for more than an hour on the scene until ICE agents arrived to place her under arrest.
"I just want to tell her story because I know that she didn't deserve it," Cynthia Penaloza said. "You know, she was just coming from work. She's not like a criminal. She's never even had a traffic ticket. You know, the reason why she was driving is because, I mean, we need to work, you know, to survive in this country."
Latest update:
Following the arrest, Penaloza was initially taken to the Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, before being transferred to the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California.
Penaloza’s legal team says they immediately began fighting for her release. On Tuesday afternoon, attorney Kim Bruno confirmed that they secured an immigration bond, enabling Penaloza to leave detention while her case proceeds through the courts.
"She still has the charges that immigration gave her, but it's getting her out of detention because we go through the qualifying requirements, which is: she is not a flight risk, she is not a danger to the community, she is not a threat to national security," Bruno said. "For those reasons, we were able to plead to the judge to let her out on a bond so that she could proceed all immigration relief outside of detention."
What's the response from law enforcement?
FOX 26 has reached out to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office for further details on the deputy involved in the traffic stop, and has also requested comment from the Department of Homeland Security and ICE. Updates will follow as more information becomes available.
The Source: Information from this article was gathered by FOX 26 reporter Angie Rodriguez speaking to Attorney Kim Bruno and family of Joceline Penaloza.