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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
A Nicaraguan immigrant and his family have been barricaded at home for
days after he outran ICE agents
By Graham Hurley and Gonzalo Alvarado CNN
Updated:
5:30 AM EDT, Sat August 9, 2025
Source: CNN
Roberto Reyes had barely left his Fontana, California, apartment and
was just a block down the road on his way to work when four white cars
swarmed him, boxing in his vehicle.
Within moments, the 32-year-old father frantically looked for an escape
as he noticed an immigration officer hop out of one of the cars.
Tapping into his survival instincts, Reyes spotted a gap between the
vehicles and fled, leaving his wallet, keys and other belongings inside
the car.
As he ran back to his apartment, Reyes said he called his wife and
daughter to open the door – all while the agents chased him, not far
behind.
In security camera video from Reyes’ apartment, the Nicaraguan
immigrant can be seen narrowly escaping the agents’ grasp as he
rushed inside his apartment and shut the door.
Reyes along with his wife, three children, and mother-in-law, have been
barricaded inside their home for more than a week out of fear of They
arrived from Nicaragua three years ago, seeking asylum.
“We are afraid and we’ve seen there are cases where they separate
the children, their parents are deported, the children are left here,
that is my fear,” Reyes said.
Officers seen kicking door and waving keys in front of camera
After Reyes shut the door to his apartment on July 30, one of the
agents fiercely kicked the front door multiple times as if trying to
break it down, the security footage shows.
“But I was at the door holding it because they were doing everything
they could to get in,” Reyes said, noting his daughter hit her head
as she tried to help keep the door shut.
Later, an officer appears to be taunting Reyes by waving a set of keys
in front of one of the security cameras installed outside the
family’s apartment.
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed federal
immigration agents attempted to detain Reyes last week. He was
described as a “dangerous criminal illegal alien from Nicaragua with
a criminal history including assault with a deadly weapon, exhibiting a
deadly weapon, and disturbing the peace.”
Reyes told CNN he was wrongfully accused in relation to an incident
with a neighbor and the case has been dismissed. CNN reached out to the
San Bernardino County Superior Court to confirm the case was dismissed.
Since his encounter with immigration agents, Reyes said no warrant or
summons has been presented to him or his family.
But the agents have not stopped approaching their apartment and the
family has seen unknown cars parked near or in his apartment
building’s parking lot, he said.
“They send infiltrators to knock on my door to see if we’re there,
they park in some parking spaces,” Reyes said.
Isolated but bolstered with community support
Neither Reyes, who is an electrician, has been able to go to work, nor
his children have attended school. They are also worried about his
mother-in-law who is recovering from lung surgery and could need
medical care.
The incident and the isolation have started to weigh on their mental
health. Even hearing a knock on the door has become traumatic for
Reyes’ family, they said.
“My wife seems anxious, she has not been able to sleep, she is very
skinny, she has not been able to eat,” Reyes said.
Reyes’ daughter said her worst nightmare is that immigration agents
would enter the apartment and take her mother.
In the past days, community members and a local immigration coalition
have rallied to support the family through the ordeal.
Javier Hernandez, executive director for the Inland Coalition for
Immigrant Justice, said he was able to bring the family food, personal
hygiene items and water.
“Our first thought again, was their well-being … their physical
well-being, ‘Do they have water? Do they have food?’” Hernandez
said.
Now, the organization is set on trying to figure out how to keep the
family in the country.
Reyes and his family left Nicaragua after being persecuted for their
political activism, and sought asylum at the southern border, Hernandez
said.
At the time, the family sought an immigration attorney for their asylum
case but couldn’t afford the high fees. They were asked for an
initial payment of $8,000 with a total fee amounting to $25,000 for
their entire family, Reyes said.
“I was the only one supporting my wife and my children, and we
didn’t have the resources to pay a lawyer, and so we can’t afford
one,” Reyes said, adding he wants to continue his application
process.
For now, Reyes said he is willing to stay at home as long as is needed
and do whatever is in his hands.
“I want to work legally, go forward and provide for my children,”
Reyes said.
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