Brian Gavidia was working on West Olympic Boulevard in Montebello around 4:30pm on Thursday when immigration agents were told they were outside of work.
Gavidia, 29, was born and raised in East Los Angeles, earning a living and modifying cars for sale. He said he went outside. And then we saw four or six agents.
Within seconds, he said one of them was wearing a vest with a “federal agent of the Border Patrol” written on his back – approaching him.
“Stop it right away,” he said the agent told him. The agents then questioned whether Gabizia was American.
“I’m an American citizen,” Gavidia said she told her agents at least three times.
Despite his reaction, the agent pushed him into the metal gate, placed his hand behind his back, asking him what hospital he was born in, Gavidia said.
Rattled at the encounter, he said he couldn’t remember the hospital.
A video shot by a friend shows two agents holding Gavidia against a blue fence. He tells them they are twisting his arm.
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“I’m American, mate!” Gavidia said in the video.
“What kind of hospital did you create?” the agent asked again, this time recorded on video.
“I don’t know Dawg!” he said. “East Lovelo! I can show you: I have my f – a real ID.”
His friend, who Gavidia didn’t name, narrated the video. As the incident continued, he said: “These people are literally based on skin color! My buddy was born here!” A friend said Gavidia was being questioned “just because of his appearance.”
Gavidia said she gave the Border Patrol the actual ID, but the agent never returned it to him. He also said the agent picked up the phone and kept it for 20 minutes.
Even after the agent saw his ID, Gavidia said, he never apologized.
In response to a question from the Times, US Customs and Border Protection did not answer questions about his encounter with Gabizia.
“We are implementing targeted immigration enforcement to help operate ice throughout the Los Angeles region. Immigration enforcement is not an option – essential to protecting America’s national security, public safety and economic strength.”
The statement continued: “All the removal of illegal aliens will help restore order and strengthen the rule of law.”
A CBP spokesman was pushed by the Times for a response to that particular encounter, saying, “The statement provided is the only information available about the operation at this time.”
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Gavidia said another friend had been arrested at the same location that afternoon. His name is Javier Ramirez, and he is also an American citizen. Ramirez’s cousin and his lawyer, Thomas de Jesus, said that immigration agents entered the private sector “without a warrant without any possible cause” to ensure that they would enter such a place.
De Jesus said his cousin began warning people of the presence of agents. He said he only learned where his cousin was on Friday afternoon and that authorities accused him of “resisting arrest and assaulting people.”
“We are still investigating to really understand and confirm the facts of the case,” De Jesus said. De Jesus called the Metropolitan Detention Center and said he identified himself as a lawyer who wanted to talk to his clients, but he was told he was not currently permitted to meet their clients.
“I wasn’t given permission. I couldn’t even tell him over the phone,” he said.
After watching the video of her encounter with Gavidia, Mayor Montebello of Salvador Melendez said the situation was “just very frustrating.”
“It doesn’t seem to be a legitimate procedure,” he said. “They just take people who look like our community and take them with questions.”
Melendez said immigration agents received a call from a resident while they were on Olympic Boulevard. Melendez said he had heard they would go out elsewhere in the city.
“They want a particular look that’s what our Latino community, our immigrant community looks,” he said.
Gavidia said his mother was Colombian and his father was Salvadoran. They are American citizens.
“He violated my rights as an American citizen,” Gavidia said. “It was the worst experience I ever had. I honestly felt like I was going to die. He literally stacked the chambers with his AR-15.”
Gavidia’s clothes were dirty from work and he said he thought it was part of the reason the agent asked him questions.
“I’m legal,” he said. “I speak perfect English. I also speak perfect Spanish. I’m bilingual, but that’s because ‘This guy looks like Latino. This guy looks a bit dirty’ I’m American.
He added:
Gavidia said he doesn’t have a real ID yet. He went to the motorbike department Friday morning and said that an immigration agent had stole his ID. He said he was told he needed to reapply for another.
“He took my tickets freely,” Gavidia said.
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