Mass ICE arrests continue: Immigrant father detained while taking his daughter to school
The detainee's wife recorded the moment he was arrested and forced into a vehicle by several agents. The family, originally from Puebla, Mexico, has lived in the United States for more than two decades.
An undocumented immigrant father was arrested by immigration agents Thursday morning in Azusa, California, as he was about to take his 14-year-old daughter to school. The incident was captured on a security camera and later recorded by his wife, who witnessed the arrest.
The incident occurred around 7:45 a.m., when the man, dressed in a blue suit, was intercepted by several agents as he approached his family SUV. According to the detainee's wife, also undocumented, her daughter witnessed the arrest and ran home crying and upset, not understanding what had happened.
Arrest caught on video, no official agency confirmation
The man's wife managed to record the moment her husband was put into a gray sedan by agents after the minor alerted her mother about what had happened. In the recording, the man can be heard shouting that the agents were from immigration. So far, it has not been confirmed whether the agents were from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). NBCLA reported that it contacted both agencies but has not yet received a response.
The name of the detainee has not been released, nor has that of his wife, due to concerns about their immigration status. According to her testimony, her husband did not have an active deportation order at the time of his arrest, raising questions about the reasons for his detention. "I don't know why they took him. Why did they take him?" she stated.
A family with more than 20 years in the United States
The couple emigrated from Puebla, Mexico, 21 years ago in search of better living conditions. Since then, they have put down roots in the Azusa community, where they have raised a family of three children and a grandson. The wife expressed that this situation has deeply affected her children, who still do not understand what happened.
Currently, the woman remains in charge of her children while she tries to obtain information about her husband's whereabouts and his legal status. "We have lived here all our lives. Our children grew up here," she explained, highlighting the ties they have established in the community over more than two decades.