Woman nabbed by ICE four months ago reunites with family

Emma De Paz, a 58-year-old street vendor, is released from detention center.

- MELISSA GOMEZ

EMMA DE PAZ hugs family and friends at her homecoming celebration Monday.

MELISSA GOMEZ Los Angeles Times

Family members greeted Emma De Paz with tears, hugs, signs and bouquets of flowers on Monday when federal immigration agents freed her after four months of detention.

As she stepped out of the SUV that had ferried her to her home in East Hollywood from the Adelanto Detention Center, she already was holding her arms wide to hug loved ones welcoming her back.

The emotional return of this 58-year-old street vendor and grandmother was the result of many people working for months to secure her release. Her months in detention were painful, but they did not dampen her spirit.

“They're violating our rights. It’s an injustice,” De Paz said, wearing a carnation yellow blouse and surrounded by more than 50 family members and friends. “We're hard workers, not criminals.”

There were also more tender moments on Monday. After her attorneys secured her bond and she arrived home, De Paz thanked and hugged her children and grandchildren for never leaving her behind. “Muchas gracias,” she said again and again.

De Paz, who is undocumented, arrived from Guatemala 25 years ago and had for years worked as a street vendor, selling tamales, soup and roasted chicken to day laborers.

On the morning of June 19, De Paz had been among the vendors who were selling breakfasts to day laborers outside of the Home Depot in Hollywood, when federal immigration agents swept through and began arresting them and other workers.

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