Culver City palatero granted green card after ICE detention

Nearly four months after being detained by ICE while working his regular route, Palatro of Culver City has returned safely to his family — and has a green card on the way.

In June, Ambrosio “Enrique” Lozano was arrested by masked federal agents while selling palatas, or frozen fruit medicine, outside a church. An adorable photo of his abandoned ice cream cart It went viral on social mediaspurring community efforts to bring him home.

Lozano, who lives in South L.A. and has operated a Paltrow Cart in the Culver City area for more than 20 years, was one of thousands of undocumented immigrants detained in L.A. this summer as part of the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts. ICE raids rock southern California and There were massive protests against it Federal Government Immigration Policy.

After 114 days in detention, Lozano was granted a green card on Wednesday through a 245(i) petition, which A lesser-known provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). It allows certain individuals to otherwise apply for lawful permanent residence within the United States

Two days later, Lozano joined his family at his sister’s home in Southgate, his niece Kimberly Noriega told The Times on Saturday.

Walking in the door, Lozano was greeted with a “Welcome home!” Welcomed by Balloons and a cake for a birthday he spent in detention. Noriega had cooked him carne asada, castella and “a whole big old bag of tortillas” — the first thing he mentioned to her on FaceTime after his release.

“Even though it’s hard, we never lost faith, and we always believed in God,” Noriega said. “I feel like it’s a small victory in something that’s huge.”

Lozano was selling his palatas in front of the Iglesia Bautista Libre Resurrección in Collor City on the afternoon of June 23 when he was arrested by ICE agents and taken to an unknown location in an unknown vehicle.

“He told them, ‘Why are you picking on me? I’m just doing my job,'” Noriega said. Lozano had no criminal record, and his clients loved him. But the agents did not show it.

Lozano was allowed to quickly call his wife and explain the situation, but after 40 seconds or so on the phone, his phone rang, Noriega said. His family could not get more information about his whereabouts for several days.

Noriega later learned that her uncle had tried to text her aunt when she arrived at the detention center, but there was no reception. Then ICE agents took his phone.

With the help of the Community Self-Defense Coalition and donation From the community, Noriega and her family were able to find legal representation for Lozano. Later, more than 150 people, many of whom had bought Palatas from Lozano over the years, wrote letters of support to help him in court.

Noriega said Lozano’s attorney, Ebony Espinoza, always believed Lozano would get his green card. But Noriega can never be sure, and this uncertainty haunts him.

“It was a lot of pressure,” Noriega said. “My aunt was crying and my mom was losing her temper just trying to do anything.”

Matters worsened when Lozano’s wife, Anita, struggled to answer questions during the court hearing, fearing she would lose her husband’s chances of being released.

Fortunately for the Lozano family, the judge was patient with them, even giving them a two-hour break to obtain photographs that would prove his marriage to Anita.

“My aunt actually took pictures off her wall because we couldn’t find her wedding album,” Noriega said. “She took the biggest pictures, you know, like 20 out of 20 big pictures, and we just took those.”

Court resumed for a few minutes, long enough for the opposing counsel to withdraw its appeal, and then the judge told Lozano, “Welcome to the United States.”

Lozano held his hands in front of his face, as if praying, in thanks.

“God gave him the strength to carry on every day,” Noriega said.

Noriega said that after his release, Lozano was surprised to find how much traction his story had gotten. She told her uncle that she now had a powerful message to share with other detainees.

“You can tell them to stay strong,” she told him. “If it can happen to you, it can happen to others.”