ICE detains man at Central Pa. DUI court, attorneys say agency targeting low-level crime

• By Dan Nephin / LNP | LancasterOnline

Edwin Reyes-Garcia was whisked away from the Lancaster County Courthouse on Aug. 7 by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after pleading guilty to a DUI and related traffic charges.

As of Tuesday, the 27-year-old Honduran man who was living in Maryland was being held at the federal agency’s Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Clearfield County, about 180 miles northwest of Lancaster County.

Reyes-Garcia’s attorney, Jonathan Chieppor, said he has not encountered ICE agents at DUI Central Court in the county courthouse before. But he said he had a feeling the agents wanted his client.

“I inquired further and was told that my client was going to be picked up by ICE that day,” Chieppor said. “My client’s and my understanding was, whether or not he pleaded guilty or was found guilty of the offense, ICE was going to pick him up regardless.”

Defense attorneys LNP | LancasterOnline spoke to said ICE appears to be increasingly targeting low-level crimes in an effort to detain undocumented people in the U.S. Reyes-Garcia’s citizenship status was not immediately clear; he had photo identification from Honduras at the time of his arrest, according to charging documents.

Chieppor said the site of ICE agents at DUI Central Court was unusual because defendants are presumed innocent at that level of the judicial process.

“Because some DUIs can be plead at DUI Central Court, it wouldn’t be against common practice for ICE to appear,” Erik Yabor, a spokesperson for the Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office, said in a statement.

Several attorneys LNP | LancasterOnline spoke to said ICE also detained another person the same day as Reyes-Garcia but could not say who the person or their lawyer was.

Lancaster city resident Ester Soliman was detained by ICE agents on Aug. 4 as she attended an Alternatives to Detention hearing. ICE uses the Alternatives to Detention program to monitor immigration cases “where detention is not necessary or appropriate,” according to ICE’s website.

Soliman came from the Philippines to the U.S. on a tourist visa that expired March 4, 2020, according to ICE. She was deported to the Philippines on Aug. 15.

Troy Mattes, a Lancaster-based immigration attorney, said because a judge issued a final removal order in 2011, and Soliman’s appeal was denied, ICE has the right to detain and remove her.

‘Difficult position to be in’

Reyes-Garcia was stopped by Manheim Borough police on June 21 after the car he was driving crossed the double yellow line three times on Lebanon Road in Rapho Township, according to charging documents. His blood-alcohol content was .107% — the legal limit in Pennsylvania is .08% — and he didn’t have a driver’s license.

Chieppor said Reyes-Garcia had no prior record and under terms of his plea was looking at house arrest and six months of probation for the DUI and two summary traffic violations.

He said he was unable to provide personal details about Reyes-Garcia, and LNP | LancasterOnline could not locate relatives using online directories and an address listed on his charging documents. ICE did not respond to requests for information.

“It is a very difficult position to be in. We are bound by law to tell our clients they must appear at their court appearances,” Chieppor said. “But practically speaking, that means there is a high likelihood that they could be arrested at that time. We are bound by that. It is our responsibility to tell people that they must be at court now. It is also our responsibility to inform them that there could be negative consequences at court, but still expect them to come.”

Chieppor said it’s become standard practice to recommend that clients with immigration issues speak to an immigration attorney. He said he has other clients who could potentially be in the same situation as Reyes-Garcia.

‘ICE trap’

Mattes, who has been doing immigration work for 26 years, said the number one offense that gets people detained by ICE is DUI.

“And they (ICE agents) do show up at the sentencing hearings….  And then they’re in cahoots with the probation officer and they are waiting for them when they start or finish or in the middle of their probation,” Mattis said. “So it’s not something new, but it’s probably we’ll be seeing an increase in this given the current nature of how things are now.” 

While ICE did not respond to requests for comment, in a May news release, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said courthouse arrests made sense.

“It conserves valuable law enforcement resources because they already know where a target will be. It is also safer for our officers and the community,” said Tricia McLaughlin, the agency’s assistant secretary for public affairs. “These illegal aliens have gone through security and been screened to not have any weapons.”

York defense attorney David Erhard said he’s seen an increase in ICE activity at courthouses he practices at in Adams, Cumberland, Franklin, and York counties.

“Typically the strategy they will employ (is) they will send at least two, what I call plain-clothed ICE agents to the courthouse. They will sort of lie and wait until the defendant has concluded the proceeding for which they are there. They will then immediately on that person’s exit from the courtroom take custody of them and take them away,” Erhard said. “By design there’s no notice.”

Erhard said he has issues with ICE at courthouses, given that defense attorneys can’t tell their clients not to show up.

“We also have the responsibility to treat these clients of ours like human beings and make them aware that when they step into that courthouse, they may never see their family again,” Erhard said. “They may find themselves on a plane to a country, frankly, that they’ve never been to before. Or maybe they were last there when they were a child.

“And now, if our president has his way, they may find themselves in the country that they have zero ties or connections to simply because they showed up for a court date — which by the way, the law requires them to do,” he said. “So we’re telling our clients, look, by virtue of following the law and doing what you’re supposed to do, you may be walking yourself directly into an ICE trap.”