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According to Orange County leaders, federal immigration officials appeared to target daytime workers in the attack on Santa Ana’s Homedelon on Monday.
One of the men detained told NBCLA that he was in the shop’s parking lot when agents arrived and began detaining daytime workers. The 50-year-old man from Peru said he owns a business, but he was taken into custody, but was released when he produced documents certifying him as a US asylum seeker.
The man asked not to be identified due to safety concerns.
“I left the county because I was being forced by a Venezuelan gang,” the Spanish-speaking man said through an interpreter.
The man took several people into custody in front of a shop on MacArthur Boulevard after the agent said he pointed the gun and group.
“For the first time in this country, it was the first time I saw how they arrived offensively,” he said. “I saw one of my friends and went into their car like they were trying to take them.”
Day workers returned to the location Tuesday, but their numbers fell. Another man told the NBCLA that if they wanted to work they had no choice.
“We’ve come here to live a better life,” he said. “We’ve come here to see what it looks like. What is freedom? America’s dream.”
The Immigration Policy Institute estimates there are approximately 236,000 undocumented immigrants living in Orange County.
Several people were arrested later Monday near the Santa Ana Federal Building in connection with the protest. The protests began with about 100 people in the afternoon and swelled to at least 1,000 people in the evening.
After declaring illegal parliament at the rally, police began to confront the crowd. It is not clear how many people were arrested, but some of the protesters were accused of throwing things at officers and causing fireworks.
“We are aware that U.S. Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently implementing immigration enforcement measures in the city of Santa Ana. We acknowledge that this news is causing fear and uncertainty among many in our community,” Santa Ana Police Department said in a statement. “We want to ensure that the city of Santa Ana is fully compliant with California Value Act. The Santa Ana Police Department is not involved in and will not participate in the immigration enforcement efforts.”
The immigration enforcement project in Santa Ana is one of several reported people in Southern California in the past week. The attack led to protests, some of which became violent in downtown Los Angeles.
President Trump has made the federal government the National Guard, and about 700 Marines have been revitalized by the federal response.
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