Ice’s ‘inhumane’ arrest of well-known vineyard manager shakes Oregon wine industry

In a statement sent to local outlet KGW, Ice alleged that Sotelo “first entered the United States illegally in 2006” and has a “criminal conviction for DUI in Newberg, Oregon”. Sotelo’s family says that he came to the United States in the early 1990s. The Yamhill county district attorney’s office told local outlets that they had found no evidence of DUI charges.

Sotelo was first taken to a detention facility in Portland. By the weekend, he was in an Ice processing center in Tacoma, Washington. On Tuesday, Van Nice drove up to Tacoma to visit his friend. But Sotelo wasn’t there.

“The Ice official told me they are under no obligation to tell the family or the attorneys of the detainees that they have been apprehended, or that they’ve been moved to another state, to another facility, or that they’ve been deported,” Van Nice said. “I told him I thought that sounded wrong, and he said, ‘Well, that’s the way it is.’”

In response to a Guardian inquiry about whether Ice had no obligation to inform families and attorneys of a detainees status, a spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) replied, “that is correct”. Ice did not respond to other questions about the case, including whether officers had a warrant or any documentation of a criminal record for Sotelo.

Just straight disappearing people.

Arm and protect yourselves.