LOS ANGELES (AP) — Federal immigration agents arrested a U.S. citizen and took his car with a child in the back seat and drove off from the scene of a raid in Los Angeles, advocates and family said Wednesday.
On a video provided by immigrant advocates, masked and armed agents are seen arresting a man by his car in a parking lot while his 1-year-old daughter is strapped into a car seat in the back. After the man is led away, agents are seen getting into the front of the car and driving off with the girl still inside.
The man is a U.S. citizen who was at the scene of a federal immigration raid at a Home Depot store in Los Angeles, said Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of Immigrant Defenders Law Center. The firm, which handles immigration cases, was contacted by community members for help reuniting the family, but isn’t representing the man because he is American, she said.
“It was a dangerous act to have armed men get in a car with that child and remove her from the situation,” Toczylowski said, adding that relatives picked up the child later that day from federal offices in Los Angeles. “They should have followed protocols that had the best interest of that child in mind.”
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials did not immediately respond to questions about why agents drove the man’s car or took the child.
The agency did indicate in an email that a U.S. citizen was arrested for investigation of assault after he allegedly attempted to interfere with agents conducting the raid while the child was left in his vehicle. Reports suggest that five immigrants were arrested during the operation.
Maria, the child’s grandmother, expressed concern for her granddaughter's safety, describing the incident as frightening. The family is relieved that the child was picked up and is said to be doing well, though she is asking for her father.
