Sioux City, Iowa (RI) — A federal judge is ordering the release of a man who was detained in northwest Iowa for being in the country without legal status. Armando Garcia Picazo was sent to the Woodbury County jail in early August after ICE agents picked him up.
Guy Weinstein is Garcia Picazo’s lawyer and says his client was forced to stay behind bars, even though a judge set bond so he could try to legally stay in the U.S.
He says Garcia Picazo came to the U.S. from Mexico nine years ago and has worked in the Sioux City metro area as a mechanic. Weinstein says since his client has no criminal record, he has a strong case to stay in the country legally.
Judge Leonard Strand says Garcia Picazo should be immediately released after posting a six-thousand-dollar bond. Strand recently made a similar ruling in another case. He said Noel Lopez De La Cruz of Mount Pleasant should have a bond hearing before an immigration judge. Lopez De La Cruz, who is 24, lived most of his life in the U.S. ICE took him into custody in August from the Muscatine County Jail, where he was being held on a charge of marijuana possession. The charges were dropped.
KIWA Staff Photo
