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Anaheim officials issued a warning Monday that the city saw in weeks of an immigrant attack over the weekend called “the most important and destructive federal enforcement.”
Anaheim has seen targeted enforcement and “larger activity” when federal judges issued temporary restraining orders that block federal agents from using racial profiling to carry out random immigrant arrests across the region, officials said.
Around noon on Saturday, agents in three or four black SUVs and white vans arrived at Euclidean car wash, unfolding what looked like a canister of smoke before laying one in place. According to the city, individuals were bystanders, not car wash employees.
Videos of the incident posted on social media show a unified masked agent tackling the man on the ground as he attempts to escape the parking lot. The man was later released.
“I think everyone in the community feels targeted,” Anaheim City Councilman Carlos Leon said. “There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty and it’s really very unstable to pass as a city.”
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Monday’s request for details on the weekend attack.
Officials say the car wash on Euclidean Street near La Palma Avenue was the third time they saw immigration enforcement efforts since early July. Several employees were detained during the previous business.
City officials said about five workers were taken into custody outside Home Depot on Brookhurst Street on Saturday.
“People involved need to be conscious and vigilant,” the city wrote in a news release.
Anaheim has the second-highest Latino population in the city of Orange County, behind Santa Ana alone. According to census data, about 35% of Anaheim’s population and more than 35% of Anaheim’s population were born outside the United States.
Authorities quickly denounced how federal government actions were carried out in the cities, saying that enforcement had destabilized families, neighbourhoods and local economies and spread fear and uncertainty.
“After all, this isn’t about public safety,” Leon said. “It doesn’t make us safer. I was born in this country. I’m scared. Many people are on the same boat – despite them being citizens.
Isaac Dominguez, a man who was detained by an immigration agent outside the car wash over the weekend, told CBS Los Angeles that he was watching the scene unfold and throwing a bottle. At that point, the agent deployed some type of smoke canister and chased him, he said.
In the video, Dominguez, a US citizen, calls out that he “can’t breathe” as the agent defeats him. He told CBS he hadn’t attacked the agents.
“They are violating all kinds of civil rights,” he told the outlet. “It doesn’t sound like a hero, but I’ve always stood up for a little guy and that’s how I’m close to home. I didn’t think it was my people.
Last month, the city council voted to take part in a lawsuit challenging federal lawsuits, citing concerns about how enforcement activities affected residents.
When Leon visited the district’s Home Depot after Saturday’s attack, he said those who witnessed the action were not only scared and angry, but were desperate to find a way to protect their friends and neighbors.
Immigrants and daytime workers often gather in home warehouses to find work. And the Southern California location has become a frequent target for immigration enforcement.
The location of Anaheim is no exception. There have been around half a dozen attacks on the site since federal authorities ratcheted up their operations in Southern California in early June.
Still, workers believe they have no choice but to continue showing up to pay their bills.
“It’s just disappointing because a lot of these people are contributing to our community and our neighborhood,” Leon said. “These are the people being targeted.”
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