Family, friends, community members and elected officials are clamoring for the release of longtime Hillsboro resident Victor Cruz, who was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month even though he was living in the country legally.
The community made their case publicly in a press conference at the Washington County Courthouse on Wednesday, the day after an immigration judge said Cruz’s case was ineligible for a bond hearing, where he could be considered for release on bail.
On Oct. 14, Cruz was pulled over and arrested by ICE in Hillsboro and transferred to the Northwest ICE Detention Center in Tacoma early the next morning. The arrest came at the start of a drastic uptick in immigration enforcement across Washington County. Community members have recently called for the Board of County Commissioners to declare a state of emergency over the increased ICE activity, pointing to Cruz’s arrest as just one example…