Southland leaders lashed out again Monday at ongoing immigration-enforcement raids in the area, saying masked federal agents were employing questionable tactics by traveling in often-unmarked vehicles and making arrests without showing identification or producing warrants.
The criticism followed another weekend of immigrants being detained, with some actions captured on cell phone video and generating allegations of excessive force or unwarranted arrests.
On Saturday, a man identified as Narciso Barranco — father to three sons who served in the U.S. Marines — was taken into custody in Santa Ana. The video shows several masked agents taking the man to the ground, striking him several times. One of his sons said his father was working as a landscaper at an IHOP restaurant at Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street when he was arrested.
His son said Barranco had recently applied to become a U.S. citizen.
After video of the arrest was widely circulated on local media, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted its own video online and said the man assaulted federal agents with a “weed whacker.” The video shows Barranco wielding the weed whacker, briefly pointing it toward one of the agents. It was unclear if any of them were actually struck with the equipment, which is later seen on the ground as Barranco is being taken into custody.
“He assaulted federal law enforcement with a weed whacker,” according to the DHS post. “Perhaps the mainstream media would like our officers to stand there and be mowed down instead of defending themselves? What a completely slanted portrayal of what actually happened.”
In a separate incident on Sunday, masked men who appear to be federal agents storm a Bubble Bath Hand Car Wash in Torrance and forcibly take two men into custody. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn condemned the arrests, which were also caught on cell phone video.
“Just a block away from a monthly street fair where Torrance families were enjoying a normal Sunday afternoon, these masked thugs sent by our own federal government violently raided a local car wash — shoving a worker’s face into a gate and throwing another onto the ground,” Hahn said in a statement Monday. “All the while, another federal agent films the raid with camera equipment. They are trying to make an example of these hardworking people, robbing businesses of their workers and families of their breadwinners.”
Video of the arrests shows the car wash owner confronting the federal agents, ordering them off the property. At one point, the man gets into an argument with one of the masked agents, who accused the man of employing illegal immigrants.
In Pasadena on Monday, a group of elected officials and community leaders gathered to call for transparency from the federal government and immigration-enforcement agencies.
Sen. Sasha Renée Pérez, D-Pasadena, blasted the tactics of federal authorities in the series of raids, noting the agents’ wearing of masks and civilian clothing, and their use of often-unmarked vehicles — which she said could lead to imposters assaulting people on the street while claiming to be law enforcement.
“They are federal agents from Homeland Security or ICE, but the truth is, unless these individuals provide proper identification, we don’t know,” Pérez said. “And when we receive reports of these individuals using excessive force, without identification, we have no way to provide oversight and accountability.”
Angelica Salas, director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said there have been increasing reports of agents using excessive force during raids, along with “abuse of power, insults, harassment, weapons being pulled on bystanders, warrant-less arrests, heavily armed presence in public spaces where children, elderly and families are present, and overall lawlessness.”
“This chaos is by design,” Salas said.
Federal officials have defended agents’ efforts to maintain anonymity during immigration operations, saying it is essential to maintain their safety from protesters who could publicize their names and other information, potentially endangering their lives and their families.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media following incidents in Bell and Maywood, saying Border Patrol vehicles were violently targeted during lawful operations.
A Trump administration spokeswoman chided local officials for complaining about the immigration raids and pointed out the continued threats Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents face.
“Attacks against ICE officers have increased 500% because of this unhinged, extremist rhetoric from Democrat politicians,” White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told the Los Angeles Times. “The LA Times should do some real reporting, instead of just regurgitating Democrat propaganda.”
Last week also saw Vice President JD Vance in the Los Angeles area Friday to meet with federally deployed troops and accuse Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom of egging on violent reactions to the immigration crackdown. Bass labeled those claims “outright lies” and “utter nonsense.”