A U.S. citizen was detained and then released, along with two others whose legal status are unknown, by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Enforcement and Removal Operations masked agents. The incident occurred near the Marts Donuts on W. El Norte Pkwy in Escondido around 7:40 a.m., this morning. L.A. TACO spoke with the man who was detained shortly after he was released. He wants to remain anonymous for his safety.
The man, an Escondido resident, was in the passenger seat of a red truck, along with his inlaws, on their way to get breakfast when, he says, they noticed a vehicle following them. When they parked across from the donut shop, masked ICE ERO agents got out of their vehicles. Two vehicles that appear to belong to the federal agents boxed in the truck. The masked agents surrounded their vehicle. Agents approached the driver's side window, which the driver had cracked open. The man said the window was open enough for them to communicate with agents.
From the outset of the incident, he told L.A. TACO that the ICE ERO agents were aggressive—they told them they had to lower the window or else they would break it.
Video footage shared with and reviewed by L.A. TACO, shows at least four masked ICE ERO agents detaining three individuals and breaking the window of the driver's side.
In the video, the person recording the video asks the agent if one of the men being detained did anything wrong. The agent replies “huh?” then, “just go inside…” Another agent behind him breaks the driver side window and opens the door. Later, an agent tells the person recording to back up onto the sidewalk. Then he says, “You are being asked politely and it’s a lawful command. If you interfere, you will be arrested. Interfering is getting too close.”
The man who was detained says he was asked if he was a U.S. Citizen by the agents, but he feared the agents would not believe him if he said anything. He had left his wallet at home that morning.
He says he was detained for around 30 minutes while they were driven from Escondido to Rancho Bernardo, he says. He described the agents as driving “really bad” and said they did not put a seatbelt on any of them during the duration of the drive to Rancho Bernardo. He says they almost hit their heads. Agents put handcuffs on him, which he said left marks on his wrists.
One of the agents, he says, accused him of being from Guatemala. He asked the agent why he was trying to stereotype him, to which the agent said “cuz I know.” He says at no point were they shown a warrant during the incident.
When they arrived at an area in Rancho Bernardo that he described as a lot, he gave the ICE ERO agents his information. At this point, the agents confirmed his identity. He was taken by different agents in a separate vehicle back to Escondido. During the return trip, he said the agents were “nicer.”
When asked about how this experience made him feel, he told L.A. TACO that “the way they [masked agents] approached the vehicle is horrifying, like we’re being under attack. Screaming at us, breaking the glass. It was horrifying.”
L.A. TACO reached out to ICE for comment and we will update this story if we hear back.
