MONTEBELLO, Calif. (KABC) — A family is outraged after a man – who they say is a U.S. citizen – was taken into custody Thursday during an ICE raid at his workplace in Montebello.
The incident happened around 4:30 p.m.
Video shared with Eyewitness News shows Javier Ramirez in handcuffs sitting on the ground outside his towing yard business. Agents also arrested an employee at the business.
“He has diabetes. He screamed, ‘I have my passport! I have my ID! I’m a U.S. citizen!’ They did not care,'” said a close friend of Ramirez who was there during the incident.
The friend said he argued with the agents, begging them to free Ramirez, but said the agents refused and even threatened to arrest him if he didn’t back off.
Ramirez was born in San Bernardino and is a single father of two, according to his family. His family members are worried and don’t know where agents took him without allowing Ramirez to take his insulin medication with him.
“I’m just scared that we can’t find him,” said Abimael Dominguez, Ramirez’s brother. “We don’t know where he’s at. We’ve been trying to locate him. I don’t know how he is, if he’s even alive at all at this point.”
Dominguez said he and his brother have been operating the tow yard for more than a decade. He said when ICE agents raided their business, Ramirez screamed, “ICE! Immigration!”
“They seemed like they were offended over that, by letting the people know inside the premises that ICE immigration was inside the premises,” said Dominguez. “As you can see in the video, they targeted him right away. They dropped him on the floor. There was two guys, you know, he has a right to not get arrested because he’s an American citizen. He’s letting them know, but just because he’s letting people know, they need to come down.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Ramirez was arrested for assaulting an ICE agent and is expected to be charged with assaulting a federal officer. They noted that Ramirez was not arrested in connection with his immigration status.
