Memo Torres breaks down ICE-related news in Southern California today. Below, you'll find links and references to everything discussed in the video, allowing you to take a closer look at each topic.
Thursday. November 6th. It’s day 154.
The number of verified reports is growing each day. Today, there are 23 verified incidents with more than 30 people taken across the southland. Most of that was targeted around Santa Ana, where at least 25 people were taken in 18 verified incidents.
We are starting to see a new pattern and strategy from Border Patrol crews here in the Southland: intensifying their operations and targeting specific neighborhoods, rather than having crews roam random parts of the city.
We’re seeing the same squad of masked male agents, one unmasked, with a couple of masked female agents doing most of the racial profiling and kidnapping. They’re still targeting open spaces like Home Depot parking lots and car washes, but now focusing more on people walking the streets, especially daytime street vendors.
Meanwhile, a van or two filled with their fully uniformed and armed tactical special response teams, known as SRT for short, armed with assault rifles, stay in nearby areas, ready to offer backup, especially if they raid a car wash or Home Depot, where they’ll accompany them. The SRT is usually the group to step in and arrest a U.S. Citizen who gets too close, punches a car, throws an object, or pisses off an agent.
On Tuesday, for example, we saw SRT arrest the citizen-father accused of throwing rocks at agents during the Cypress Park Home Depot raid, where the agents drove off in his car with his toddler in the back.
We saw this yesterday at the Westlake Home Depot, where Luis Bautista, a citizen, was arrested for “obstructing and punching a law enforcement vehicle. After several verbal commands were ignored, agents placed the man under arrest,” according to a comment we received from DHS regarding this matter. Video shows Bautista flipping off the agents and bumping the corner of their SUV with the back of his fist as they drove off. That’s why he was arrested.
Meanwhile, ICE and ERO are focusing their energy on targeted arrests and looking for specific people, like asylum seekers whose cases were dismissed or those who missed a hearing, for example. They’re looking for these individuals at their homes or work. Not that they don’t also involve themselves in an occasional case of racial profiling, we haven’t ruled that out yet. But so far, this seems to be the general approach we’re seeing.
Today, for example, in Los Angeles: On Hill and 2nd at 8:44 a.m. ICE agents went into an office building and took a man away. It is unclear whether the man worked in the building. Witnesses then reported that ICE went all the way up to the sixth floor looking for the people who recorded them while unmasked and putting the man in an SUV. The community observers who recorded them locked themselves in their offices before ICE gave up and left.
So instead of 10 sporadic incidents spread across different areas, we’re seeing an average of 15 incidents concentrated in the same area. If you look at the recent Daily Memos, you’ll see this pattern emerge more consistently. We saw this clearly yesterday when they moved through the Salvadoran Corridor up to the Westlake Home Depot. Today, their target was once again Santa Ana with more than 18 incidents reported.
The Orange County Rapid Responders estimate that around 20 of the total people taken today were Mexican Nationals, according to the Mexican Embassy.
TODAY’S ICE RAIDS
- San Marcos: On Ponte and Descanso, around 6:20 a.m. Border Patrol agents were seen in the area, video footage shows a man is handcuffed, we are unsure if they were ultimately taken away.
- San Diego: Near Gomper’s Preparatory Academy on 47th St and Hilltop Dr, around 7:45 a.m. A man was seen legally documenting a known ICE vehicle who was driving around the neighborhood and past the school.
- San Diego: At the Kohl’s on 3450 College Ave, around 1:50 p.m. A bystander who was driving through the lot witnessed a masked Border Patrol agent, it is unclear what their motive was to be in the lot at that time.
- Los Angeles: On Hill and 2nd at 8:44 a.m. Two SUVs with ICE agents went into an office building and took away a man. It is unclear whether the man worked in the building. Witnesses then reported that ICE went all the way up to the sixth floor looking for the people who recorded them unmasked and loading a man into an SUV in the parking area.
- Lake Forest: At the U-Haul on Jeronimo and El Toro, around 9:45 a.m. Border Patrol agents were seen on the premises kidnapping four individuals.
- Santa Ana: On Maple St and Hobart St, around 9:50 a.m. Two people were seen taken outside of a residential area.
- Santa Ana: On S Main St and E Bishop St, around 9:15 a.m. Two Border Patrol agents were seen questioning a homeless man, it is unclear if they took him.
- Santa Ana: At the Santiago Hand Wash, on 601 E 17th St, around 9:18 a.m. Community watch teams verified that an individual was kidnapped.
- Santa Ana: At Pacific Park, on Maple and McFadden, around 9:40 a.m. Border Patrol agents came in and kidnapped three people. At least five agents were present.
- Santa Ana: On Edinger and Lyon, around 10:10 a.m. Border Patrol was spotted at the intersection headed towards the Home Depot on 1750 E Edinger Ave, where by 10:30 a.m., OCRRN confirmed the kidnapping of one individual.
- Santa Ana: On 17th and Grand, around 10:15 a.m. A Border Patrol agent was seen speaking with a man, it is unclear if they were taken or not.
- Santa Ana: At a strip mall on Bishop and McFadden, around 10:15 a.m. Border Patrol agents were seen in the area.
- Santa Ana: By the Wells Fargo on 17th and Cabrillo, around 10:30 a.m. Two Border Patrol agents were seen kidnapping a man and woman and forcing them to their vehicle. A man documenting the scene is recorded asking the two individuals for their names so their families can be reached, a Border Patrol agent is seen saying, “I appreciate that, thank you” shortly afterwards. A rapid responder later confirmed that the woman that was kidnapped is battling cancer.
- Santa Ana: On Main and Walnut, two Border Patrol vehicles were seen at the intersection near a food truck.
- Santa Ana: On Bristol and Mcfadden, between 10:35 a.m. and 10:40 a.m. Border Patrol agents kidnapped one older man who was near Christie’s Donuts, and subsequently drove down to Bristol and Edinger just two minutes afterwards and kidnapped another man near El Gallo Giro.
- Santa Ana: At the Global Recycling Center on Chestnut and Grand, around 12:00 p.m. Border Patrol agents flooded into the lot, they were documented as they were seen heading back into their vehicles to leave. We are unsure of the total numbers of individuals taken.
- Santa Ana: On Standard and Walnut, around 12:09 p.m. Two unhoused individuals were seen being chased and grabbed by Border Patrol agents.
- Santa Ana: On 1st and Halladay, around 12:23 p.m. Various residents were seen honking and documenting Border Patrol agents who were in the area, they ultimately kidnapped one person.
- Santa Ana: On Standard and McFadden, around 12:18 p.m. Two men were seen being questioned by Border Patrol agents. One man was eventually taken away and forced into a vehicle.
- Santa Ana: Outside of a 98 Cent Discount Store on Booth St and W First St, around 12:26 p.m. A bystander documented the aftermath of a woman being kidnapped by Border Patrol agents as she was walking to the store. This was just two blocks away from Santa Ana High School.
- Santa Ana: On Lyon and Normandie, around 12:30 p.m. A known ICE vehicle was seen driving around the area, local residents alerted the community and demanded the officer leave.
- Santa Ana: On 17th and Grand, around 1:10 p.m. Border Patrol agents returned to this location and a rapid responder verified that four people were taken away.
- Santa Ana: On McFadden and Lyon, around 2:00 p.m. Two masked Border Patrol agents were seen walking by a food truck and apartments, a resident was seen alerting the community.
- Anaheim: At the Home Depot on Brookhurst and Gramercy, around 11:00 a.m. Border Patrol agents were seen in the area where day laborers gather. An individual was seen being chased into the Chevron where he sought safety and was taken away.
AT L.A. TACO
- Dennis Quinonez, the U.S. Citizen who was detained by U.S. Border Patrol Agents and separated from his young child during a raid at the Cypress Park Home Depot, was released on bond and has reunited with his family. Quinonez’s family was in the courtroom. During the hearing, the judge said his family’s presence moved him and, for that reason, would allow him to post bail. According to a criminal complaint, he is accused of unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a person previously convicted of domestic violence.
- In a court hearing today, a judge reviewed the release order of Richard Parias, known as Richard L.A. The judge decided to keep the stay in place. He remains in federal custody, unable to post bond at this time.
IN OTHER ICE-RELATED NEWS
- FBI urges ICE agents to identify themselves after a string of impersonators commit crimes.
- In another case of the DHS trying to discredit reporters, Tricia McLaughlin and the far right came after L.A. Times reporter Brittny Mejia for her reporting of the Cypress Park incident, where agents drove off with a toddler in a car. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin quote-tweeted the reporter, starting it off with “Oh ffs skae, Brittny.” She took issue with Mejia quoting the grandmother, a local observer, and with using the term “allegedly” to refer to DHS’s statement about the father abandoning the child to wield a hammer and throw rocks at the agents. DHS is standing by its statement. Meanwhile, Meijia’s reporting does in fact quote McLaughlin’s complete statement.
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