A city councillor in Lakewood, California, comes after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents said they boarded his boat for no reason and asked for identification.
Councillor David Arerano detailed the incident in a July 15 Facebook post, saying he was out on the water with a friend when the “full tactical equipment” federal government pulled up line up in boats near the port.
“As we left the port, a patrol boat at the border stood next to us,” Arerano wrote. “They asked where we were going and then they heard the driver say, ‘I’ll ask them for a paper.’ ”
He said two CBP agents boarded the vessel and asked both Arerano and his friends to present their identification.
“No explanation. There’s no cause. It’s just based on doubt and brown – how we look,” the councillor argued. “My friend was just as stubborn as me.”
Federal agents will be seen boarding Lakewood Councillors boats in July 2025.
Arerano said the agent’s attitude shifted after seeing the pair’s identification. “All of a sudden they apologised, but the damage was done,” he wrote.
KTLA contacted Customs and Border Protection for comment. On Wednesday, August 6, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security issued a statement defending the agents’ actions.
Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at DHS, said: “During the interview, the agent requested the ship’s documents in the same way you were pulled by your car and acted with professionalism and courtesy.”
It should be noted that the operation is part of a legal inspection process in which CBP’s marine evacuation agents randomly select boats for inspection, and smugglers often try to blend in with regular boat traffic.
However, Arerano believes the interaction is not random.
“I felt angry, helpless, hurt, and lightly mean,” he wrote. “I’m a lifelong US citizen. I was born and raised here. I’m a civil servant. And yet, at that moment, I was just a brown person.”
McLaughlin pushed back that claim, adding: “The councillors make it clear that law enforcement’s prioritization of racial feeding and demons regarding the safety and security of our hometown.”
Arelano emphasized that his posts are based on personal experiences, and encouraged others to share themselves.
“It’s a reality for millions of Latinos in this country, regardless of their legal status,” he said. “We all have a variety of views and beliefs, but we need to do better. We need to treat each other with respect, dignity and decency.”
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