Port Washington community rallies for bagel shop manager detained by ICE
The community gathered at the Port Washington train station across the street from the Schmear Bagel & Cafe to show their solidarity for 40-year-old Fernando Mejia.
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Friends and neighbors of a beloved Port Washington bagel shop manager rallied together on Saturday after his sudden detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on June 12.
The community gathered at the Port Washington train station across the street from the Schmear Bagel & Cafe to show their solidarity for 40-year-old Fernando Mejia.
Community members called for change throughout the peaceful protest, saying Mejia was a hard working law abiding father who should’ve never been targeted by ICE.
He came to the United States from El Salvador and now he's being detained for overstaying a visa 20 years ago.
Mejia's coworkers, like Nicole Martinez, are standing by his side.
“He's a big goofball,” Martinez said. “Like, everybody loves him. He's a really good guy.”
Martinez was there when witnesses tell News 12 ICE agents picked him up.
“We didn't even know that they had came and they came and saw after, like, two hours because he left on a delivery and everybody was calling him...and there was no answer,” Martinez recalled.
Mejia also has a 14-year-old daughter here.
“She's a freshman in high school having to deal with losing her father, not knowing what's going on with him,” Martinez said.
His father, Jorge Alberto Mejia, just came to the U.S. from El Salvador to visit him a week ago. It was their first time being together in 20 years and just days after he arrived, his son was taken into custody.
Jorge Alberto Mejia said his son came to the United States to work hard and have a better life.
“What I want is for him to be with me, to be free, because he can't be a prisoner, he can't be like a caged animal,” Alberto Mejia said.
Community members said they’re outraged to hear about what happened to Fernando Mejia and they say it speaks to a bigger issue that's impacting people across the entire country.
“It is heartbreaking and it's one of way too many heartbreaking stories,” said Livia Polise, who was at the rally. “We're seeing children with critical illnesses being deported. We're seeing hard working people being swept off of our streets.”
Fernando Mejia’s father said he was able to briefly speak with his son Saturday morning, but still has no idea when they'll be reunited as a family again.
News 12 repeatedly reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement about Mejia but had not heard back as of Saturday evening.
