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Huntington Park Police said Friday that they had arrested a man believed to be pose as a federal immigration agent when tensions escalated in Southern California’s immigrant community due to an ongoing enforcement raid.
Police say 23-year-old Fernando Diaz was arrested Tuesday.
Officers were attacking the SUV when the man approached him claiming he had the SUV, according to police chief Cosme Lozano.
“After learning that the vehicle was trapped, the individual requested that the item be retrieved from the vehicle he claims to belong to a friend,” Rozano said.
Officers searched the vehicle and found multiple copies of the passport that were loaded with 9mm semi-automatic firearms, officially visible documents with headlines for Homeland Security Investigations and US Customs Border Protection, a sheet containing a US CBP radio code, and according to Lozano, multiple copies of the passport that were not registered in the individual’s name.
The Durango was also equipped with radios, police-type lights and other items that indicated potential criminal activity, police said.
Officers arrested Diaz for possession of an unregistered firearm. He was later released on $5,000 bail, city officials said.
Diaz, who had a good DUI warrant, has a history of being arrested for records related to human smuggling and possession of an unregistered firearm.
The arrests were generally made by armed federal agents wearing face masks, civilian clothing, badges and identification cards as law enforcement officers amid recent immigration enforcement activities across Los Angeles. Authorities say they generally wear bullet-resistant vests that say “police,” “ice,” or other federal agencies’ names.
Public officials have condemned the authorities and said they are inviting criminal acts and fears by law enforcement.
“These are not isolated horrors. Throughout the region, people report incidents with individuals who claim to be federal agents, driving coloured vehicles, wearing regular clothes and refusing to show their identification.”
Flores said the city council passed a resolution this week requiring the police department to verify the identity of federal agents operating in the city.
Last week, two California lawmakers proposed a new state law to bar law enforcement members from hiding their faces while they are on duty.
Federal officials claimed that immigration agents would wear masks to protect themselves and their families from attacks by protesters against enforcement efforts.
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