Friends say Donovan Hinda is an “integral and inextricable part of the Oak Cliff community.”
By Sarah Bahari
Dallas Morning News
https://www.dallasnews.com/
GoFundMe
A beloved bartender in Bishop Arts is in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after he was detained last month.
Donovan Hinda was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and released to ICE on Dec. 3, the agency confirmed in an email Tuesday toThe Dallas Morning News. Hinda is being held at the Bluebonnet Detention Center in Anson, north of Abilene in West Texas.
The 31-year-old native of Namibia arrived in the United States with his parents at age 6, his friends say. He was a recipient of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, the Obama-era program that shields people from deportation if they were brought to the country as children. Recipients must apply for renewal every two years.
Hinda’s status had lapsed, though, friends said in a GoFundMe that has raised more than $30,000 to help with legal fees.
Friends called Hinda an “integral and inextricable part of the Oak Cliff community” and a gifted musician who has worked at numerous bars and coffee shops in the neighborhood.
“He’s been a light and a rock for so many of us, and this situation has continued to feel immensely heartbreaking and scary for him, his family and ourselves,” the GoFundMe says. “He has been a mainstay throughout Bishop Arts and Oak Cliff for the better part of a decade now, holding space for each and every one he comes across with joy, patience, curiosity, and a never ending supply of comic relief.”
Hinda is among the tens of thousands of immigrants targeted by the Trump administration’s sweeping mass deportation program. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump has aimed for 3,000 arrests a day.
Last month, federal agents detained Chih-Ming Feng, known as Petey, a longtime Dallas line cook who has worked at numerous fine-dining restaurants in the city. Feng, a native of Taiwan, was attending his immigration check-in when he was detained.
In October, Jacob “Yaa’kub” Ira Vijandre, a DACA recipient from the Philippines, was arrested outside his apartment in Arlington. The federal government revoked Vijandre’s DACA status over social media posts it contended glorified terrorism. Before his arrest, Vijandre was a fixture at Dallas-area pro-Palestine protests.
A spokesperson for ICE said Hinda was detained after his second drunken driving arrest. He was arrested in early 2023 and released in February of that year. An immigration court date is pending. It is not clear if Hinda has legal representation yet.
Friends say Hinda’s recollection of his time in Namibia is vague and that returning “would undoubtedly be traumatic” given that he is not familiar with the language or culture.
“We are navigating a great deal of precarity and uncertainty at the moment,” friends said in the GoFundMe.
Sarah Bahari is a trending news reporter. She previously worked as a writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where she covered a bit of everything. She is a graduate of Kansas State University.
This story, originally published in The Dallas Morning News, is reprinted as part of a collaborative partnership between The Dallas Morning News and Texas Metro News. The partnership seeks to boost coverage of Dallas’ communities of color, particularly in southern Dallas.
