The agents asked for Venegas’s identification, she later told CBS Los Angeles. She complied. The agents also asked for Arrona-Lara’s identification, but he had left his ID at home, Venegas told Univision affiliate KMEX. The agents searched the car before leading Arrona-Lara away in handcuffs, leaving his wife frantic. Surveillance video from inside the store at the gas station shows her crying and distraught.
After her husband was detained, Venegas drove herself to the hospital and delivered her baby, she told local media.
On Saturday afternoon, officials released previously undisclosed details about Arrona-Lara’s arrest. He is a Mexican national wanted in Mexico under a warrant issued for homicide charges and has been detained pending removal proceedings, according to a statement by ICE spokeswoman Lori Haley.
The homicide warrant brought the attention of agents, according to Haley. ICE did not provide details about the homicide that Arrona-Lara is accused in. Venegas is also undocumented, CNN reported.
Arrona-Lara’s legal representative, Emilio Amaya García, told The Washington Post he believed his client was not suspected of crimes within the United States, and denies criminal charges in Mexico. García questioned why Arrona-Lara is slated for removal but not extradition, where a more formal handoff to authorities would be made.
García is representing Arrona-Lara through San Bernardino Community Service Center, a nonprofit group.
His concern was how the arrest affected Venegas. She had preeclampsia, he said, a pregnancy complication marked by high blood pressure. The couple explained the condition to the agents, he believes.
Haley declined to say whether the arresting agents considered delaying Arrona-Lara’s arrest until after the birth or could have escorted Venegas to the hospital, given her condition. She also declined to provide any regulations either allowing or prohibiting such agent-level decisions.
“They left her alone,” García told The Washington Post on Saturday. “They put the well-being and safety of the mother and baby at risk.”
Venegas remains in the hospital, García said.
