ICE Denies Release Of Neurologically Impaired Pittsburg Man: Atty

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — A neurologically impaired immigrant who was living in Pittsburg and who was jailed in 2016 is being denied release by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials even though a judge said he could be released if he is monitored electronically, the man's attorney said Friday. Jose Jimenez Garcia, 35, is "low-functioning" and he has some trouble with language, according to his attorney Helen Lawrence.

Jimenez Garcia is being held in a Sacramento County jail.

Immigration officials believe he will not show up for court if he is released, but Lawrence said she will continue to be his attorney and that minimizes the chance that he will flee.

"They think he's a flight risk," Lawrence said.

Additionally, according to Lawrence, an immigration official told her they want to know whether he's loved enough that someone will check on him if he is released.

Immigration officials want Jimenez Garcia or someone to pay a $7,500 bond instead of allowing him to be electronically monitored.

"That's a lot," Lawrence said.

Jimenez Garcia and his family, a brother and cousin in Pittsburg, are all indigent. Lawrence is appealing for lower bail amount.

Jimenez Garcia, who came to the U.S. from Mexico in 2002 and was deported in 2008, was picked up by Pittsburg police in 2016 when he was homeless. He was arrested for resisting arrest and booked into the county jail but was not convicted of the charge, according to Lawrence.

An organization that has access to jails, visits people who get no visitors and raises money for bail has started a YouCaring account for Jimenez Garcia, which can be seen at Youcaring.com/civic-1058644.

So far the organization Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement has raised $940 as of late Friday afternoon.

"Jose suffers from neurological impairments that make his days in detention extremely difficult," fundraising organizer Christina Mansfield said on YouCaring.

Jimenez Garcia would go to an inpatient, Spanish-speaking rehabilitation center in Oakland for six months if he was released. There, he would learn how to stay drug-free in the community before going to live with
family in Pittsburg, Lawrence said.

According to Lawrence, in jail Jimenez Garcia is not learning how to stay sober once he's released.

The rehabilitation center, Mi Segunda Vida, has given Lawrence a letter saying he can get treatment there after immigration officials release him.

He is not a danger to the public, according to Lawrence, and, she said, that's been determined in two bond hearings.

Jimenez Garcia has a handful of misdemeanor convictions all of which occurred more than 10 years ago. None have to do with stealing from someone or DUI. Lawrence said his convictions involve things like stealing toiletries from a store.

Lawrence said sending Jimenez Garcia back to Mexico would send him into harms way because people with his kind of impairment are treated so poorly in Mexico.

Immigration officials didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

By Bay City News Service

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