Street vendor is freed after 4-month detention

At the time, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Customs and Border Protection had “arrested 30 illegal aliens in Hollywood, California.”

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EMMA DE PAZ, 58, greets family and friends welcoming her home Monday.

(MELISSA GOMEZ Los Angeles Times)

De Paz had long advocated for street vendors in the Melrose/Vermont area, informing other vendors of their rights with the Community Power Collective, a nonprofit group in East Los Angeles. Organizers knew within 15 minutes of her detainment that she had been picked up, said Sergio Jimenez, a lead organizer with the group.

“From that moment, we started activating a lot of our connections, a lot of our resources,” Jimenez said. That included outreach to L.A. City Council members, launching a GoFundMe that raised money to hire an attorney and paying De Paz’s rent so she still had a home when she was released. The organization was unrelenting in its advocacy for De Paz, creating an altar and rally for her in July to keep her story alive.

This week, De Paz recounted how, when she was first detained, she was taken to the downtown Los Angeles immigration office. It was so cold there, she recalled, that she tucked her arms and head inside her blouse and used her face mask to try and keep warm. Immigration officials tried to get her to sign for voluntary deportation, but she refused. She wanted to fight to stay in the U.S., she said.