A well-known local businessman and former restaurant operator detained by federal immigration enforcement late last year has lost his court case seeking release.
Omar Ramos Jimenez is originally from Mexico and has lived in Rochester since 2004. He has been held at the federal detention facility in Batavia since early December.
The 50-year-old is described as a father figure, beloved neighbor and leader. He and his wife founded and ran La Casa on Alexander Street and, before that, operated La Pacita at the Public Market. Hundreds turned out to protest after he was detained.
His case now is on appeal.
Ramos Jimenez first was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2013. He later filed for asylum status and a cancellation of removal, both of which were denied in 2020. Those decisions were appealed, and a decision has yet to be made.
ICE detained him again in December, after he was told to visit the agency’s Buffalo office to have a new app installed on his mobile phone.
In addition to filing for release from custody, Ramos Jimenez sought protection from being transferred to a detention facility out of state, and for a bond hearing. U.S. District Judge John Sinatra dismissed those requests on Feb. 12.
The decision cites a previous ruling by Sinatra in the case of a Brazilian man, Josimar Ferreira Candido, detained by ICE last year. That decision concluded that Candido did not qualify for a bond hearing. Candido had argued he was eligible for a bond hearing because he was not seeking admission to the United States but has already lived in the country for over 20 years.
Ramos Jimenez’s attorney, Paul O’Dwyer, declined to comment. And his daughter, Cassandra Bocanegra, the senior manager of organizing and strategy for the Finger Lakes chapter of the New York Immigration Coalition, did not immediately respond to a voicemail.
O’Dwyer filed an appeal last week, but what legal strategy could be used is unclear.
