Video showing federal immigration agents detaining a man outside the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station is raising questions about enforcement of LA County-designated ‘ICE-free’ zones.
The video, shot on Saturday, Oct. 31, shows four agents wearing vests that read “ICE POLICE,” rushing a man into a black SUV. An agent is seen taunting bystanders, including one who was filming the encounter, before walking up to them and saying:
“He came out of local jail; he’s illegal and you can’t do nothing about it. And it hurts. Have a good day.”
The arrest is the latest in immigration enforcement activity near the East Los Angeles Civic Center, a county campus that includes the sheriff’s station, Belvedere Park Lake, the East LA Library and various other public and government offices.
Throughout October, rapid response groups shared reports and footage of agents detaining at least four different people just outside the East LA Sheriff’s Station, including at Belvedere Park.
Now, immigrant rights advocates and rapid responders are urging LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis to enforce so-called “ICE-free” zones, a policy that ensures county property is “not used as staging areas, processing locations, or operations bases for unauthorized civil immigration enforcement.”
They’re also calling into question the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s role in immigration enforcement as federal agents have been spotted in October in the parking lot in front of the East LA Sheriff’s Station.
Members of the social justice group Centro CSO held barrio walks at Belvedere Park on Sunday to inform residents about their rights. While there, Gabriel Quiroz of Centro CSO said they encountered sheriffs placing yellow tape around the station.
“Why can’t they do that when ICE is here?” Quiroz said.
The Sheriff’s Department on Oct. 27 confirmed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested two people at Belvedere Park who were released from its custody in October, but, in a statement, maintained that the department “did not notify ICE of their impending release and did not coordinate any transfer of the individuals into ICE custody.”
The agency said it does not “participate in any civil immigration enforcement activities,” and noted that “federal law enforcement agencies operate under their own legal authority.” Sheriff deputies, the agency said, “do not have the authority to interfere with lawful federal enforcement actions.”
When asked about ICE arrests in the vicinity of the East LA Sheriff’s Station, the Department of Homeland Security told Boyle Heights Beat that ICE arrested two men on Oct. 19 and Oct. 31. The men, whom the DHS described as “criminal illegal aliens,” are from Guatemala and Colombia and had previous arrests for felony sale of marijuana and driving under the influence, according to the DHS.
“Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, our message is clear: if you come here illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you,” the DHS said in a statement.
Solis, in an Oct. 26 statement, said reports of federal immigration agents operating in the parking lot of the East Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station, “raise serious concerns … particularly because County policy prohibits its property from being used as a staging area for immigration enforcement.”
“I helped establish these protections,” Solis said of the ICE-free zones. “I appreciate County departments posting signage to reinforce the policy and have asked County Counsel to ensure it is fully implemented and enforced,” Solis said.
Raquel Roman, executive director of Proyecto Pastoral, a social justice nonprofit that spearheaded the Boyle Heights Immigrant Rights Network (BHIRN), said Solis’ office reached out to the Los Angeles Raids and Rapid Response Network for support during the county’s Día de los Muertos event at the East LA Civic Center on Sunday.
“We’ll go and do what we need to do, but how is it that the residents can do more than the government right now?” Roman said. “There are gaps within the government.”
Martin Santos, who captured the footage on Saturday outside the East LA Sheriff’s Station, said he was in shock. Santos, a volunteer for Angela Gonzales-Torres’ campaign for California’s 34th Congressional District, said he and others have gathered at Belvedere Park for the past three months or so on Saturdays to canvass the area and talk to voters.
Santos said Gonzales-Torres’ campaign equipped volunteers with whistles and Know Your Rights pamphlets to hand out as word spread that ICE operations were underway around the civic center area.
“I never would have thought I would have seen it in front of me,” Santos said.
