WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 28: Fatima Avelica, 13, whose father was deported while dropping her sister off at school, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on March 28, 2017 in Washington, D.C. The news conference, which worked with the National Council of La Raza, discussed whose parents had been deported (Photo by Zach Gibson/Getty Images)
The girl who recorded ICE agents arresting their father in East L.A. are fighting to save him from deportation. The family says their father could be deported to Mexico as soon as next week. Brenda Avelica says she feels bullied by the immigration system.
"It feels like an eternity has passed since I got in to see my Dad in person for more than one hour."
U.S. Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents took their father, Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez into custody on Feburary 28th while he was taking his younger daughter, Fatima, 13, to Academia Avance public charter school in Highland Park. Fatima recorded the incident on her cell phone and the footage went viral.
In a statement after Avelica-Gonzalez's arrest, ICE said the man was targeted because of several prior criminal convictions, including a DUI conviction from 2009 and a 2014 outstanding order of removal.