Federal agents involved in a supposed widespread immigration crackdown in Los Angeles County reportedly were reluctant to show a warrant to a city traffic officer for a family member they believed to be an undocumented migrant.
The crackdown didn’t amount to much, according to sources who spoke to the Los Angeles Times — only 12 individuals were reportedly picked up and detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in LA, despite federal officials requesting enough space to house 120.
Because the lockup typically only takes new inmates on weekends, additional staffing had to be called in over the weekend, meaning taxpayers were on the hook to pay for the extra staffing cost.
One of the individuals targeted in the supposed raid was the father-in-law of Flipe Espinoza, 56, who works as a traffic officer in LA. He was in the middle of a workout over the weekend when FBI agents arrived at his house and demanded he open his door.
He looked outside and saw half a dozen agents standing outside his home. He stayed inside but raised his hands and asked what they wanted.
The agents reportedly told him they were looking for his father-in-law, whose vehicle was registered at Espinoza’s address.
The traffic cop reportedly told the federal agents that he “hadn’t seen him in awhile,” according to the LA Times.
Espinoza’s family — a young child and his wife — were at home at the time, and he was unwilling to allow the agents entry to his home without fist seeing a warrant.
He went outside to meet the agents, who produced what they said was a three-page warrant, but they reportedly were only willing to show him the first page of the document.
“They were a little hesitant about showing me the warrant, per se, but what I saw they didn’t have a seal on it or anything,” he told the LA Times. “What is did clearly say was ‘illegal alien.'”
Once he saw those words, he realized it was likely an immigration issue.
“It happened so fast,” he said. “I was taken aback, really.”
At the same time, an individual with a loudspeaker — unaffiliated with the federal agents — shouted that Espinoza did not have to open the door to them without a warrant signed by a judge.
“Do not talk to them if they do not have a warrant,” the individual said.
Other people who had been following the federal agents with megaphones called them “kidnappers” and “terrorists” and began chanting the words “say it once, say it twice, we will not put up with ICE.”
Residents of LA became aware of a potential immigration crackdown in the area after the LA Times publicized government documents suggesting that a raid had been planned for the weekend.
The federal government, under Donald Trump’s direction, has conducted similar immigration raids in Chicago, New Jersey, and New York.
The Independent has contacted ICE for comment.
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