Leonel Sanchez Lagunas was a firefighter at the Conservation Camp Program before he was detained by ICE in December 2019.
Contact: Laura Duarte Bateman | laura[@]ccijustice.org | 415-684-5463
For immediate release
September 17, 2021
LEONEL WILL BE FREED; TWO MEN REMAIN DETAINED AT YUBA COUNTY JAIL
San Francisco, CA — Leonel Sanchez Lagunas, one of the remaining three men detained in ICE custody at the Yuba County Jail, was granted a $10,000 bond in immigration court Thursday afternoon. A virtual “pack the court” was hosted by the Free-The-Yuba-11 Campaign Coalition and was attended by more than 80 supporters from across California.
Leonel Sanchez Lagunas is a grandfather, auto mechanic and firefighter from Orange County who was transferred from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) custody to ICE custody a day before Christmas Eve in December 2019. When in CDCR custody, Leonel was selected to participate in the fire camp program and served as a firefighter during the 2018 season. He fought the Donnell, Ferguson, Parrott, and Bear Creek fires, as well as a fire in Yosemite National Park, and used his knowledge as a mechanic to maintain and repair the fire trucks. Leonel survived two COVID-19 outbreaks at the Yuba County Jail, where the conditions and lack of medical care put individuals at higher-risk of infection and even death.
Now there are only two men still detained in ICE custody at the Yuba County Jail. Community supporters have made calls to Congressman Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) and Congresswoman Jackie Speier (CA-14) to support and join the call for ICE to release Luis Erasmo Castro and Ricardo Vasquez Cruz.
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