Marcell Ibarra, a senior at Desert View High School on 蜜柚直播鈥檚 south side, wants his best friend, his 鈥渞ide or die,鈥 back, he told a group of reporters on Monday morning.
鈥淗e鈥檚 working his behind off to be graduating,鈥 Ibarra said of classmate Thomas Torres, who is only two weeks away from donning a cap and gown.
It is uncertain whether Torres, 18, will graduate with his friends, though. The just before 10 p.m.
Torres may have a court date for May 22 鈥 the same day he is supposed to graduate, according to Sunnyside Unified School District spokesman Victor Mercado.
鈥淗e has my back and I have his,鈥 Ibarra continued. 鈥淗e needs to be back. 鈥 This shouldn鈥檛 be happening.鈥
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At least 120 of Torres鈥 Desert View classmates protested his detainment Monday morning in front of Sheriff鈥檚 Department headquarters near East Benson Highway and South Kino Parkway. Torres is in a Border Patrol detention center in Casa Grande, Ibarra said.
鈥淔ree Thomas! Free Thomas! Free Thomas!鈥 his friends and peers chanted over a speaker blasting rap music. They held long banners emblazoned with the phrases 鈥淐on Justicia Hay Paz鈥 鈥 with justice there is peace 鈥 鈥#FreeThomas鈥 and 鈥淥peration Thomas.鈥
The students marched holding handmade signs and Mexican flags to the Sheriff鈥檚 Department from Desert View 鈥 a more than 4-mile walk, according to Google Maps 鈥 to protest their friend鈥檚 detainment and demand he be released from Border Patrol custody without a bond, immediately.
鈥淏ecause we as students can鈥檛 afford to pay it,鈥 Desert View senior Jamilet Fragoso, one of Torres鈥 friends who organized the march, said through a megaphone.
Two of Torres鈥 friends, Ervyn Rivas and Louis Escalante, were in the car when Torres was pulled over in front of the Dollar General store on East Drexel Road and South Alvernon Way.
The officer didn鈥檛 tell the boys why he pulled them over, they told the 蜜柚直播.
A sheriff鈥檚 report, however, says Torres was told the reason for the stop: The deputy ran a check on the blue Kia Spectra and found that the vehicle registration had a mandatory insurance suspension. The registration was also expired, the report said.
Torres did not have identification or a driver鈥檚 license, he told the deputy.
He was also unable to produce a Social Security number.
The officer asked Torres if he had been drinking or using drugs 鈥 there were two empty cans of Mike鈥檚 Hard Lemonade visible in the car, which the boys said belonged to someone else 鈥 and asked him to get out of the car to take a sobriety test.
The deputy noted in the report that there was a 鈥渧ery slight odor of intoxicants emanating from the general area of the vehicle.鈥 However, Torres passed the field sobriety and breathalyzer tests.
The deputy cited Torres on civil charges including displaying a plate suspended for financial responsibility, no mandatory insurance, no valid driver鈥檚 license and no current registration, according to the report. 蜜柚直播 does not issue licenses to people who are in the county without authorization.
Despite providing his name and date of birth , Torres was repeatedly questioned about his identity and eventually admitted to being undocumented, the report said.
The Sheriff鈥檚 Department then contacted the Border Patrol. SB 1070, a 2010 state law, requires 蜜柚直播 law enforcement officers to call immigration authorities if they suspect someone they have stopped is in the country illegally.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an obligation and a procedure,鈥 said Pima County Sheriff Mark Napier. 鈥淚f a person admits to being in violation of federal immigration law, I don鈥檛 expect (deputies) to look the other way.
鈥淚 believe our deputy did exactly what he should do and acted in a reasonable and appropriate manner.鈥
Torres was seated in the back of a patrol vehicle while waiting for Border Patrol agents to arrive.
鈥淭hey (the police and Border Patrol) didn鈥檛 do anything with us,鈥 said Rivas, who waited with Torres for over an hour before the Border Patrol detained him. 鈥淲e were just worried about him.鈥
Torres remained in Border Patrol custody Monday.
Lorena Rodriguez, a family friend who launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Torres鈥 legal costs, said the teen was a toddler when his relatives moved from Mexico to the U.S. 鈥渢o seek a better future,鈥 according to The Associated Press.
Rodriguez said Torres鈥 family had long since returned to Mexico and he had been living with her family as a close friend of her brother, who also is scheduled to graduate.
Dozens of Desert View students walked off campus Monday to protest the Border Patrol apprehension of a fellow student. They claim the student was detained after a Thursday night traffic stop by a Pima County deputy.
The vehicle Torres was driving was registered to Lorena Rodriguez.
At the protest, a handful of Torres鈥 best friends spoke to his character as his peers stood behind them in solidarity.
Torres, who plays football at Desert View, is a down-to-earth, kind person whom everybody gets along with, they said. He works hard to do well in school. After graduating, he wants to study to be an electrical engineer, Ibarra said.
鈥淭his shouldn鈥檛 be happening to him,鈥 Ibarra repeated.
This shouldn鈥檛 be happening to any undocumented person, said one of Torres鈥 good friends, Daffne Anselmo.
鈥淲e feel that threat that any of us can be taken at any moment,鈥 Anselmo said.
That鈥檚 the other reason the students protested outside of the Sheriff鈥檚 Department: Not just for their friend, but for 蜜柚直播鈥檚 immigrant and Latino communities.
鈥淲e shouldn鈥檛 be worried about ending up in jail or prison after school,鈥 Anselmo said to the crowd through a megaphone.
鈥淲e look different, but we鈥檙e all made the same.鈥
Though the students don鈥檛 have any other protest plans , they said they will continue to fight for the release of their friend.
鈥淎s far as it takes us,鈥 Ibarra said.
Tim Steller and The Associated Press contributed to this story. Contact reporter Brenna Bailey at bbailey@tucson.com or 520-573-4279. On Twitter:
Brenna Bailey
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