NorCal Teen Uses Quinceanera To Protest Dad's Detention

RICHMOND (AP) -- A San Francisco Bay Area teen is hoping her immigrant father is released from a detention center in time for her upcoming birthday and held an unusual protest to draw attention to his case.

Alexa Lopez on Saturday had a coming-of-age party known as a quinceanera outside a detention facility in Richmond where her father, Raul Lopez, is being held.

Raul Lopez came from Guatemala to the U.S. in 1989 and was in the country illegally. His wife, Dianeth Lopez, says her husband had been reporting to immigration officials regularly before he was taken into custody in March 2017.

Video footage from KNTV shows Alexa in a pink dress and tiara dancing with her cousin. Girls typically dance with their fathers at quinceaneras.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press.