COTTAGE GROVE, Oregon (KEZI) — Juanita Avila, a local business owner and mother in Cottage Grove, was one of several people across Lane County detained by ICE on November 5th. Avila, who has been a resident of Cottage Grove for 12 years and owns Juanita’s Latina Store located in downtown, has lived in the United States since she was 14 years old. She believes the incident was an act of racial profiling.
“They are actually racially profiling because we are Hispanic, they are targeting us,” Avila said.
On her drive home Wednesday evening, Avila was speaking to her daughter over the phone when in her rear view mirror she saw lights flash following close behind her…