His cellmates self-deported. He fought to get back to his family

['Staff Writer', 'Brittny Mejia Is A Metro Reporter Covering Federal Courts For The Los Angeles Times. She Was A Pulitzer Prize Finalist In For Her Investigation With Colleague Jack Dolan That Exposed Failures In Los Angeles County S Safety-Net Healthcare System. She Joined The Times In'] Los Angeles Times 2025-09-20 00:00:00

Angel Minguela Palacios was detained by Border Patrol agents in August. The lights never dimmed and Angel Minguela Palacios couldn’t sleep. Angel Minguela Palacios took this image of a federal agent looking at his identification outside of the Japanese American National Museum on Aug. 14. “What kills you is the confinement.”Angel Minguela Palacios spent more than a month in immigration detention. He pointed out that Minguela didn’t have a criminal record and was gainfully employed, the primary breadwinner for his family.