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Activists rally for investigation into Palatine family's deportation

Agents' actions called into question after Palatine family's deportation

Chanting "Investigate ICE," advocates for immigrants on Wednesday called for return of members of a Palatine family and for scrutiny of federal agents' actions in deporting them.

Reynold Garcia was apprehended Jan. 3 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents lured him from his Schaumburg church by pretending his friend was in a car accident.

Garcia's wife, Karen Margarito-Pineda, and their two children were detained separately Jan. 2. Supporters say ICE agents gained access to their home under false pretenses.

The family was deported to Mexico Jan. 5.

"We are appalled and outraged at the cruel and abusive tactics that were used to deport the Garcia family," said Rosa Navarro of Organized Communities Against Deportations.

"We're asking for parole and protection for the Garcia family. They must be allowed to return to the U.S. - they are key victim witnesses, and this is a community where they belong."

The Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America, Organized Communities Against Deportations and other groups asked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to investigate what they say are civil-rights violations.

ICE spokeswoman Gail Montenegro said the agency "remains committed to sensible, effective immigration enforcement that focuses on its priorities, including recent border crossers, convicted criminals and other public safety threats."

The family crossed into America and sought asylum in 2014, saying they were fleeing violence in their village in southern Mexico. Garcia was deported. Margarito-Pineda applied for asylum and was allowed to stay temporarily.

Garcia later crossed into the U.S. illegally and joined his family in Palatine. They became active in the Christian Pentecostal Center in Schaumburg, parishioners say.

Because of legal errors, Margarito-Pineda's application was denied. She was trying to appeal when a series of ICE raids swept up the family.

Chicago Religious Leadership Network on Latin America leaders said ICE agents impersonated local police and pretended to be searching for a suspect when they entered Margarita-Pineda's apartment without a warrant.

The group said those actions and interviewing the children without her informed consent violated Margarita-Pineda's Fourth Amendment rights. ICE also broke a rule that prohibits arrests at "sensitive locations" such as churches and schools, activists said.

"It had traumatic and devastating effects on the family and the church, whose sense of safety was robbed when ICE tricked and lured Garcia outside the sanctuary," the Rev. Alli Baker said. "Since then people have stopped going (to the Christian Pentecostal Center)."

Montenegro said ICE is allowed to conduct enforcement when approval is granted by high-ranking supervisors or at sensitive locations under circumstances posing national security or public safety threats.

"ICE officers and agents are charged with exercising sound judgment and avoiding unnecessarily alarming local communities," she said.

Democratic U.S. Reps. Tammy Duckworth of Hoffman Estates, Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Luis Gutierrez of Chicago called for an review of ICE's actions in the case in April.

Schaumburg church at center of deportation controversy

Suburban family's saga ends back where it started — in Mexico

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