OAKMONT, Pa. — Officials are demanding answers after federal agents arrested an Oakmont resident.
On Wednesday, Congressman Chris Deluzio (D-District 17) said he sent a letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Tom Lyons about recent activities in the Oakmont area.
Specifically, Deluzio asked about the arrest of Jose Flores by ICE agents on Jan. 29.
“I’m demanding answers to basic questions about the arrest and detention of Oakmont resident Jose Flores in front of his 8-year-old daughter and other ICE activities in our area last month,” Deluzio said in a release. “My office is in touch with his family and his lawyer—and according to them and local reporting, Mr. Flores has no criminal record and is in the United States legally under a valid work authorization document. I’ll keep fighting for answers and accountability for ICE and Secretary Kristi Noem’s failed leadership.”
Deluzio says Flores and his family are waiting on an affirmative asylum determination.
Oakmont Borough Council issued a statement on Wednesday, “demanding justification” for the arrest, which it says happened while Flores was buckling his daughter into the car before going to school.
“As Council members, it is our responsibility foremost to ensure the safety of all our residents,” the statement reads. “As Council members, we leave politics behind when we come together to make decisions that will impact all our residents.”
A community fundraising campaign for Flores’ family had raised more than $93,000 by Thursday.
In a social media post Thursday, state Rep. Mandy Steele (D-District 33) identifies Flores as a longtime Oakmont Bakery employee.
“Our neighbor from Oakmont has NO CRIMINAL RECORD and is HERE LEGALLY. Yet he’s being forcibly deported. When will he see his child again? Maybe never,” Steele’s post reads.
Oakmont Bakery issued a statement Thursday, saying in part: “We remain in constant contact with his (Flores’) family and are working closely with his immigration attorney, doing everything we can to bring him home.”
The bakery shared a statement from attorney Pete Rogers of Rogers Tamburro, saying Flores was allowed to remain and work in the U.S. during his asylum case, and he could not be detained unless there was a criminal charge, which there is not.
You can read Okamont Bakery and Rogers’ full statements below:
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