A Dallas community leader and advocate is being held in ICE custody at a detention facility near Abilene after what started as a traffic stop.
On August 29, Omar Salazar was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement after a traffic stop while visiting his girlfriend in Lubbock. Friends, like Flaka Martinez, are speaking out in support of Omar Salazar.
Friends describe Omar Salazar as a pillar of community, human rights advocate
“We have a void right now,” said Martinez. “This man has just been devoted to community leadership and technology all around, and just aligning it all together for human rights.
Martinez said Omar Salazar is a pillar of the community. She said the 28-year-old works in the AI industry, is an SMU grad, a former high school valedictorian and advocate. Martinez said he’s helped several of the metroplex non-profits throughout the years.
“I was honestly very surprised that anything had occurred to where he was in the situation that he’s in,” she said.
Details of the traffic stop and ICE arrest in Lubbock
A Lubbock police spokesperson said Omar Salazar did not use “a ramp properly to enter the loop” and changed “lanes unsafely.” They said when he was pulled over, he “presented a Mexican ID” and did not have a valid license.”
Shortly after, ICE was contacted, and he was arrested.
Legal perspective: Salazar’s immigration status and case
Veronica Franco Salazar, Omar Salazar’s immigration attorney at Monty & Ramirez LLP in Houston, said he was brought to the U.S. illegally as a child, and he was not eligible for DACA because he missed the eligibility window by just a few months.
“This is a person who has no criminal history. He’s been here for almost 18 years at this point. You know, these cases, you know, require some special considerations,” said Franco Salazar. “The fight is not over. Omar has also been, most determined to go through with making sure that he’s able to fight his case.”
ICE responds
CBS News Texas reached out to ICE about Omar Salazar’s case, and a spokesperson said, “ICE officers will not wait for immigration violators to commit a crime before they are detained. For those who violate immigration laws, we are going to apprehend them and remove them.”
University of Texas School of Law professor Denise Gilman, who is not connected to the case, weighed in on the situation.
“I think we should all be very, very troubled when we see that,” Gilman said. “That should be a real warning call to all of us, and there are many, many courts that have weighed in and said that many of these detentions are unlawful. So, the fact that it’s happening does not mean either that it’s lawful or that it’s immoral and okay.”
As Omar Salazar awaits what’s next, Martinez said they won’t stop organizing until he’s released.
“We want to make sure to keep his spirits up,” said Martinez. “[We want] his freedom and the right to be able to exist freely as the powerhouse that he is in this country.”