Benjamin Marcelo Guerrero-Cruz, an 18-year-old high school student from Los Angeles, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) last week. Guerrero-Cruz was taken into custody while walking his dog near Sepulveda Boulevard in western LA County.
The arrest shocked the family of the Reseda Charter High School student, who are struggling to gather the legal fees needed to challenge the ICE detention. To help, the family started a GoFundMe campaign, which has raised over $47,126 so far. Rita Silva, a family associate, is managing the fundraiser.
“Less than a week ago, he turned 18, full of hopes for his senior year of high school,” the campaign says. It also describes how the masked agents tied the “dog to a tree and then unclipped the collar off him to run loose on the Sepulveda Blvd.”
“They treated him like a criminal, joking while arresting him that ‘thanks to him, they get to drink this weekend,’ laughing about the $2,500 they just collected,” the post adds.
Also read: Who was James Ford? Suspect in fatal shooting of Erin Hayne in Windham found dead
Benjamin is a senior at Reseda High School in the LAUSD district. He has twin brothers who are five months old and another six-year-old brother. According to a Facebook post about his detention, he used to take care of them. The post calls him a “devoted son, a caring brother, a loyal friend, and a valued member of our community.”
In a similar case on Friday, a popular TikToker known for posting content about ICE raids in Spanish was violently detained by ICE at her Los Angeles home. The agents pinned her down, causing injuries that required hospitalization. A video of her arrest has gone viral on social media, receiving millions of views.
