{"id":101884,"date":"2025-12-19T23:59:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T23:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/101884\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T23:59:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T23:59:09","slug":"stunted-dreams-wife-of-man-detained-by-ice-says-shes-lost-hope-in-the-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/101884\/","title":{"rendered":"Stunted dreams: Wife of man detained by ICE says she\u2019s lost hope in the U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"

When Norma, a Long Beach resident of 20 years, found out her husband was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at his workplace on Sept. 1, her heart dropped.<\/p>\n

It was something she never expected would happen \u2013 until she got the text from her husband, Cirilo Noriega, around 8:30 a.m.: Vieja, me cay\u00f3 la migra.<\/p>\n

Norma, who asked to be identified by only her first name due to safety concerns, discovered ICE agents had entered Excellent Car Wash & Auto Detail on Atlantic Avenue on Labor Day morning, despite closed doors, and arrested Noriega and his manager.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

After three months in ICE detention and a final court decision on Dec. 15, Noriega will be deported to Guatemala. It is uncertain when the deportation will take place. \u00a0<\/p>\n

At his workplace on Sept. 1, Noriega showed no resistance, Norma said, and calmly asked the agent if he could change out of his wet clothes. He had worked at the car wash for six years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are both prisoners. Those of us on the outside are prisoners along with those held inside because we carry their burden, their suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Cirilo Noriega\u2019s wife, Norma<\/p>\n

For three days, Norma knew nothing about her husband\u2019s whereabouts or condition. He wasn\u2019t answering her calls, and she couldn\u2019t find him in the Online Detainee Locator System.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t do anything; I felt powerless,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

After finally getting in touch with him on Sept. 4, Norma found out he was being detained at Desert View Facility in Adelanto, almost 100 miles from Long Beach. According to his wife, Noriega has no criminal record and was \u201cnot a threat to anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s never even had a ticket; he\u2019s never had problems with the law,\u201d she added. \u201cThey\u2019re calling us criminals for working, for trying to help them move this country ahead. Because without us, this country would be nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was the third car wash in Long Beach targeted by ICE within about two weeks, after agents entered Andres Car Wash and Coast Hand Car Wash on Aug. 17, taking four people<\/a>. On Sept. 14, nearly two weeks after ICE arrested Noriega and his manager, seven people were taken from Bixby Knolls Car Wash<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Norma said they had talked about what to do if ICE showed up, and she warned her husband not to resist agents.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen so much cruelty, so much violation of human rights \u2026 I didn\u2019t want them [ICE agents] to hurt him,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Immigration support groups \u00d3RALE<\/a> and Esperanza Immigrant Rights Project<\/a>, or Grupo Esperanza, have supported Norma and Noriega over the past three months.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Attorney Niraali Pandiri from Grupo Esperanza, which provides legal services to immigrants, has been working on Noriega\u2019s case. \u00d3RALE, which provides information, services and resources to the immigrant community, has helped Norma pay her bills and make deposits to her husband, as Norma works full-time and cannot get an additional job to compensate for her husband\u2019s absence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a horrible trauma, living with the fear that they\u2019re going to take you, hurt you. They treat us like nobodies, like criminals, like animals \u2026 if it were for me, I\u2019d probably want to leave this country tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013 Cirilo Noriega\u2019s wife, Norma<\/p>\n

Pandiri warned Norma that Noriega will likely not win his case, despite having no criminal record and numerous recommendation letters sent to the judge by friends of Noriega, who are documented.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s never, ever been a danger to society,\u201d Norma said. \u201cHow then will [they] judge a person just for the color of their skin and the way they speak?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Norma, Noriega came to the U.S. from Guatemala around 2004, leaving his family, including his adult children, back home. He lived in Los Angeles before moving to Long Beach over five years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The couple met in 2017 \u2013 Norma was a waitress at a restaurant Noriega frequented. After six months of dating, they tied the knot and moved in together, and consider themselves married despite not going the legal route of marriage.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Monday, Dec. 15, the Adelanto Immigration Court ruled to deport Noriega. Norma told the Signal Tribune she is also set on leaving \u2013 likely to her home country, El Salvador. She said her husband would join her there.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve already set a limit on how long I\u2019m going to live here,\u201d Norma said. \u201cThe hopes I had for the United States were crushed by the United States itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Norma described her husband as a hardworking man with a big heart, who went from home to work and work to home, and \u201cdidn\u2019t bother anyone.\u201d He is also the stepfather to Norma\u2019s three adult children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a horrible trauma, living with the fear that they\u2019re going to take you, hurt you,\u201d Norma said. \u201cThey treat us like nobodies, like criminals, like animals \u2026 if it were for me, I\u2019d probably want to leave this country tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite gloomy prospects, Norma is determined to \u201cnever lose faith\u201d and remains hopeful that \u201cGod has the final word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are both prisoners,\u201d Norma said. \u201cThose of us on the outside are prisoners along with those held inside because we carry their burden, their suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noriega has a GoFundMe here<\/a>, which goes toward legal fees and bills.<\/p>\n

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