A 22-year-old immigration activist and Cal State Los Angeles student detained by Border Patrol agents last month was released from custody Friday.
Claudia Rueda walked out of the Otay Mesa Detention Center near San Diego after a federal judge ordered her freed on her own recognizance pending further review of her immigration case. She had been in custody since her arrest.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone across the state that has been helping me — and to not forget about other people that are detained, that are in my shoes, and that we need to keep fighting for everyone that’s being detained in this unjust immigration system,” Rueda said in a video statement Friday.
Rueda had been moving her family’s car outside their Boyle Heights home in May when she was detained and taken to the Otay Mesa facility. Her arrest sparked claims that she was targeted in retaliation for protesting the arrest of her mother, Teresa Vidal-Jaime, who had been swept up by federal agents during a massive cocaine bust in April.
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