The High Desert Community of California is asking for your assistance in helping Gabriel Espinoza Diaz. He is currently being unjustly held in an ICE facility in Nevada. Gabriel was transferred to this facility after being racially profiled and arrested under frivolous accusations. The local District Attorney rightfully declined to file any criminal charges and the Court ordered his release. However, he was held long after he was absolved of any wrongdoing. His family and friends urgently need help to secure his release and protect his civil liberties.
On January 8, 2026, while on a trip with friends in Las Vegas, Gabriel was detained by a private security guard in front of their hotel. The guard confiscated their only means of communication and took away their phones. He illegally detained them until police arrived. Gabriel was racially profiled, arrested under false accusations, and incarcerated at the Clark County Detention Center. On January 9, 2026, at approximately 9 a.m., Gabriel had an initial appearance at Clark County Superior Court and was immediately cleared of the accusations. The Court ordered his release at 12:52 p.m. Gabriel was returned to Clark County Detention Center to process his release. Upon his return, a Correctional Officer taunted him by saying he was never going to get released and that they had called ICE in the morning, before his initial appearance.
To verify the legitimacy of this claim, I, along with other concerned community members, contacted the Clark County Detention Center, which confirmed that his release was imminent. We traveled to Las Vegas to retrieve Gabriel upon his release. We called the detention center for an estimated time of release and were told there was an administrative delay. A detention center agent suggested we call every other hour for an update on his release. We were unable to find Gabriel on the online database. Several agents at the detention center stated that he had been processed out of the system and that he would be released soon.
We checked his case on numerous databases and there were no holds of any kind, especially not one from ICE. This was corroborated by two different agents from the Clark County Detention Center. We called EVERY hour for an update since 4 p.m. on January 9th, and throughout the early hours of January 10th. Before 7 a.m on January 10th, Gabriel was taken to an ICE detention center in Henderson, Nevada. Despite Clark County Detention Center agents assuring us they were simply waiting to finalize his release, only minutes earlier.
Gabriel is a dedicated college student who epitomizes selflessness and finds joy in helping others. His kindness, loyalty, and integrity are the foundation that endear him to our community. He would help other students in all types of mathematics courses, as an unpaid volunteer, and helped found one of the most active clubs on campus, Math Addicts. His efforts have helped people become more involved in their own academic lives and discover that mathematics is not as scary as they thought. He is currently in his final semester at Victor Valley College and is planning to transfer to CSUSB to pursue his dream of becoming a math teacher. His academic and professional goals are motivated by his dream of helping his family. His continued detention is unjust and is not only detrimental to him, but also to his friends, family, and the High Desert community. All funds generated will go directly to Gabriel and his family to cover the necessary legal fees to help them manage during this trying time. Please consider supporting Gabriel’s legal defense and sharing his story to bring him home.