‘We’re not afraid’: Supporters rally for longtime Salt Lake City man detained, facing deportation

SALT LAKE CITY — Family and friends are rallying around a longtime resident of Salt Lake City detained this week by immigration enforcement agents and now facing deportation.

Julio Irungaray Sr., who has lived in Utah for more than 35 years, though he’s originally from Mexico, was detained on Wednesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents outside his home, and his supporters quickly organized to protest the action and press for his release. They also offered a more general broadside against stepped-up efforts by the administration of President Donald Trump to detain and deport immigrants in the country illegally.

“We’re sad, but we’re not afraid,” his son, Julio Irungaray Jr., said at Thursday’s rally, held at Sherwood Park in Salt Lake City. “We know that our entire community is going to stand alongside us against ICE. And it’s not just us under attack. There’s also other families under attack right now.”

Irungaray Jr. said his dad, 56, faced deportation but that he had been in the process of formally appealing the order to leave the country. Beyond that, he and others lauded him as a hardworking and contributing member of the community, regardless of his migratory status.

“Trump wants us to believe that our neighbors, people like Julio, are terrorists. But we know that it’s ICE that brings the terror into our communities,” said Devin Martinez, an organizer with the liberal Party for Socialism and Liberation of Salt Lake City and a speaker at the event. “We’re here today to tell Julio’s story, to demand his release and to demand ICE out of Utah for good.”

In a statement Friday, the Department of Homeland Security said Irungaray Sr. has “multiple convictions” on his record for driving under the influence of alcohol and that the man reported to authorities that he illegally entered the United States in 1991. The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals in 2022 ordered him to leave the country.

“He refused to leave, and his voluntary departure order became a final order of removal,” reads the DHS statement. “He will remain in ICE custody pending removal from the U.S. Under President Trump and (DHS) Secretary (Markwayne) Mullin, criminal illegal aliens are not welcome in our country.”

Irungaray Jr., in response, acknowledged the drunk-driving history, which doesn’t appear in online Utah court records, but said his dad went through the legal process to expunge the convictions and also received treatment. His last drunk-driving charge happened around 20 years ago and he’s been sober for around 17 years.

His dad’s efforts are “a testament to how dedicated he was to being here,” Irungaray Jr. said Friday.

More broadly, Irunagaray Jr., speaking at Thursday’s rally, criticized the ongoing immigration crackdown as unjust and focused on working people. His uncle, he said, was also detained by immigration agents in Ogden earlier Thursday.

Irungaray Sr., being held in the Uinta County Jail in Evanston, Wyoming, had two jobs, working at a Mexican restaurant and a movie theater. Family members are taking legal steps to secure his release from detention, and Irungaray spoke with him by phone earlier Thursday.

“He said, ‘Don’t be distressed, but please be careful,'” Irungaray Jr. said. “ICE told him that it didn’t matter if he was hiding right now because ICE is closely watching everybody in the community. He said never stop fighting because if we stop, then ICE is going to continue abusing us.”

Both Irungaray Jr. and his sister Chantal Irungaray — University of Utah students — are politically involved, associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and Mecha de U of U at the U. Around 90 people took part in Thursday’s rally, including members of the groups, and those involved said they planned to hold more demonstrations to call attention to the issue.

“Even though our family is under attack, we are not afraid,” Chantal Irungaray said. “We know that we are not alone. We stand shoulder to shoulder with our community, and we are fighting back because we must fight back.”

She said her dad was detained as he arrived home from his night job. “I just woke up from the screams of my mom that La Migra had gotten him,” she said.

Their young cousin, Bianca, also spoke at the event, lamenting the detention earlier Thursday of her father.

“This makes me really sad, and I never thought it would happen to my family. Immigrants should be treated like equals because they are human beings just like everybody else,” she said. “My dad works really hard to take care of me and my younger sister.”

Maria Montes, of Comunidades Unidas, an immigrant advocacy group based in West Valley City, also spoke, lauding Irungaray Sr. as a valuable member of the community.

“Like other Utah residents who have faced detention, Julio is an integral part of our community. He has dedicated his time and his energy to making Salt Lake City a better, a kinder, a more beautiful place,” she said.