By Alys Martinez
Photo: AFP / Blake Fagan
A man hospitalised after an immigration operation at a Los Angeles County car wash has been granted a temporary restraining order that commands federal agents to remove the security guards who have accompanied him since late August.
The federal judge also ordered the Department of Homeland Security to remove the restraints that have tied him to his hospital bed for the past month.
Bayron Rovidio Marin suffered a severe leg injury during an immigration raid at the Carson Car Wash on 27 August. According to court documents, he was taken to Harbor UCLA Medical Center. Federal agents remained at his bedside during admission, transfer to non-public treatment areas and through his stay, keeping him handcuffed to his hospital bed.
In addition to the restraints, two to four uniformed guards, either private security or Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, have been continuously stationed in his hospital room, monitoring him at all times, according to the court documents.
"In this case, he was arrested in a car wash raid and held in the custody of the government for over a month at the hospital without any charges brought, without any determination he was in violation of immigration law," Marin's lawyer Jean Reisz.
Reisz, who is also a professor at USC, said her client received the temporary restraining order on Saturday night, 4 October.
"The judge talks about freedoms from restraint of liberty without due process is the cornerstone of American society," Reisz said. "I think it's concerning. I think it's part of these aggressive tactics used by this administration in enforcing immigration law."
The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), which is also representing Marin, stated he "was forced to endure medical treatment and recovery with ICE agents in his room".
"ICE agents listened to every conversation between him and his doctors," CHIRLA wrote in a statement. "They interrogated him while he was in pain and under the influence of medication. They did not permit him to see his family and removed his access to phone calls."
Marin remains hospitalised, and the temporary restraining order will remain in effect until 18 October. The federal government has until 16 October to respond.
A US Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said Marin was "an illegal alien from Guatemala" who tried to escape agents by scaling a fence during an immigration operation on 4 October. Marin fell and CBP agents helped him until he was taken to the hospital, the spokesperson wrote.
Marin and his attorney said he suffered the leg injury on 27 August.
CBS News Los Angeles asked federal agents to clarify their statement, but did not receive an immediate response.
- CBS via CNN Newswire
