U.S. Immigration and Customs and Enforcement (ICE) agents on May 27 arrested a longtime Watsonville resident as he walked behind the Target store near the intersection of Harkins Slough Road and Ohlone Parkway.
The man’s nephew, who asked to be called Brandon, confirmed the arrest, and said that ICE agents came to their residence after the arrest to inform them.
They were wearing uniforms without insignias, driving an unmarked sedan and carrying large weapons, he said.
“They were armed like they were arresting someone dangerous,” he said.
Brandon declined to give his uncle’s name.
The incident was also reported to the community by Your Allied Rapid Response Santa Cruz County, a group whose mission it is “To use our bodies, tactics and resources to document, resist and prevent actions by ICE or other regressive forces that would harm our fellow human beings,” according to their website.
Brandon says his uncle is a hard worker who first came to the area in the late ’80s. He is always looking for jobs to help support his family, Brandon said, including in laundromats and in agricultural fields.
But that was hard, he said, because his uncle is an undocumented immigrant.
“He is very much loved by the family,” Brandon said. “He is a support system.”
He also drives kids to school and practices and helps around the house.
“My uncle is also the life of the party,” Brandon said. “He is someone who always has a joke and makes everyone laugh and shows up to fam reunions.”
Brandon says the family believed his uncle was targeted by the agents, who knew where he lives and where he would be walking.
He said his uncle has had past encounters with the law, but declined to go into detail.
“We are still trying to figure out why it is that he was targeted,” he said.
It is not clear whether there has been other ICE activity in Santa Cruz County.
The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
Watsonville Police spokeswoman Michelle Pulido declined to comment on whether ICE contacted local law enforcement before they made the arrest.
“We are unable to share or verify that type of information. Immigration violations are a matter of federal jurisdiction and are not enforced by our local police department.”
It was unfortunate for the uncle, but now he faces the consequences of his poor choices. The uncle is not a victim. It was very courteous of ICE to inform the family of the uncle’s arrest.
Dry your tears Brandon. Your uncle has been breaking our laws for over 30 years. Seems only fair that we send him home to resume his criminal activities
Demtard sob story. This was a targeted action. And for the racist brown people. When the vast number of undocumented folks are brown, then guess who this affected the most. ICE has a job to . Protect our borders like any sovereign nation and deport unwelcome guests
YOU WILL BE SHEDDING TEARS WHEN YOU OR YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE ARRESTED DUE TO TRUMPDUMP’S HATRED OF PEOPLE OF COLOR. AND GUESS WHAT? HE HAS A RIGHT TO A HEARING. IT IS CALLED “DUE PROCESS” FOR THE ABOVE POSTERS WHO CLEARLY NEVER TOOK OR PASSED AN AMERICAN GOVERNMENT CLASS.
All good things come to a end.
“He said his uncle has had past encounters with the law, but declined to go into detail.”
When you are in country illigally and you break the laws of the visiting county is anyone entitled to remain the visiting county?
Being in the U.S. without papers is a misdemeanor. Most of the people who have made the choice to be in the country illegally have done so because it’s their best option, such as to escape murderous gangs in their home countries.
We must do what we can to protect our neighbors and communities from the current regime, which is wielding a racist campaign that in no way helps our country.
Seems it ok to turn on your like colored brothers…until they come for the citizen…then all heck breaking loose!! Its just not them…YET!! Seems people always vote against their best interest!! And against their own kind!!
He was living in the U.S. illegally, had prior run-ins with law enforcement, and now it’s all catching up to him. Odds are he already had a removal order he chose to ignore.
Sounds like the Uncle was an integral part of a Latin family. A family that works and sends their kids to school. He was arrested as a pedestrian walking behind the Target store. Pedestrians seem less threatening than some drivers of vehicles. Could be that the family was a group of Catholics keeping those traditions. Could be that some family members were bilingual, which is often the case. America need the help in the fields as well as in construction and elsewhere. But ICE is operating at the urging of the Republicans in Congress and the President. ICE agents may be paid well or not. Hitler in the 1940’s as well as McCarthy in the 1950’s created a class of people that they wanted their populations to hate. So hate is active in Watsonville thanks to ICE. New Pope Leo the Fourteenth would probably not approve.
Seems it ok to turn on your like colored brothers…until they come for the citizen…then all heck breaking loose!! Its just not them…YET!! Seems people always vote against their best interest!! And against their own kind!!
Drives me nuts when these government thugs come uninvited into communities that Actively want these people to remain here, with their loved ones, putting down roots and holding down jobs, and pry beloved family members away from their community.
Show me the federal government crackdown on *employers* of undocumented immigrants, and then I’ll start to take seriously the assertion that there’s a crisis. Until then, it’s just another way to keep people too scared to organize, another way to make sure there’s a cheap labor supply for our millionaires…
Not sure this is keeping cheep labor but you are spot on going after the employers. But from what I am seeing they are mainly targeting people whom have broke the law. We should deport people immediately whom break the law if for no other reasons but the discourage others from breaking the law.
If cheating employers and contractors were not benefiting from cheap labor and many times (slave like ) farm laborers- the issue would be resolved. There are laws against employing someone without a right to work and nothing happens to these employers. Chase the real criminals’ immigrants or not, leave the hard-working families alone.
Demtard sob story. This was a targeted action. And for the racist brown people. When the vast number of undocumented folks are brown, then guess who this affected the most. ICE has a job to . Protect our borders like any sovereign nation and deport unwelcome guests
ICE is enforcing the law. He had a history. So on one hand he broke the law and should have been removed a long time ago. On the other hand we need better access programs for people to get green cards, so they can work and pay taxes. I know of one illegal that has been deported, he has US kids and a wife that he was supporting. But never went through the motions to get a green card or become a citizen., and now he is gone. His fault. He was picked up at the grocery store.
Why are people so upset when we have to obey the law but they don’t. As said they were nice enough to tell the family he was being deported. Yes things are very messed up. Like when congress never intended for foreigners to be able to have US citizen babies; that is now the big anchor that we need to fix. More green cards and no anchor babies. And then we can bring in people legally and offer them a path to citizenship. Don’t break the law, be a hard worker and pay your taxes.
Sounds like a supporter of a family and an all around hard working contributor to our economy was deported. Deported to where?
I dont think some of the commenters realize how much taxes and social security undocumented workers provide to the benefit of other Americans. This is a loss for Watsonville.
Clearly Watsonville as well as Santa Cruz and Monterey County are squarely in the crosshairs.
Shouldn’t the county and city officials be more vocal in protecting undocumented workers?
Now the IRS has collaborated with ICE and DHS. The game changer is AI. All this data is fed into AI the CPB-1 app put a tracking device on cell phones. Employers will start to distance themselves from hiring undocumented employees. It’s an all around bad situation with no easy answers. One thing is certain when the full federal weight comes down on our communities and rest assured it unfortunately will thousands of criminals as well as hard working people will be rounded up and deported right wrong or indifferent it will happen so be prepared.
I will say one more thing, as this situation ramps up I pray that no ICE or HSI officers get seriously injured or worse because if that happens it will make things so much worse for all
Protest yes scream yell yes but interfering or blocking or worse attacking them will NOT WORK
Everyone stay safe and sound as much as possible
Why isn’t ICE arresting all the rich growers and employers who hire undocumented people, They know their employees aren’t legal and are supposed to use EVerify to verify if the SS numbers given are legal. They still hire them and never get punished. Time to go after Driscoll and all the other big employers hiring illegals.
Brandon can relax – his uncle has friends: Last Tuesday ICE nabbed 2200 of his amigos Under our current president’s reign 65,000 have been sent home
Viva Ronaldo!