The Department of Homeland Security said the agents were conducting a ’targeted enforcement operation to arrest two illegal aliens.’
A standoff occurred between federal immigration agents and staff at a Southern California medical center on July 8 after a Honduran man facing detention attempted to evade arrest.
Staff at the Ontario Advanced Surgery Center demanded to see identification and a warrant from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent who was wearing a mask and a bulletproof vest and was trying to detain the alleged illegal immigrant.
In a video of the altercation, surgery center staff wearing blue scrubs can be heard telling the agent to let go of the Honduran man, who was crying.
“Get your hands off of him. You don’t even have a warrant,” said one staff member, who was trying to shield the man from the ICE agent. “Let him go. You need to get out.”
After video footage of the medical center altercation went viral, the Department of Homeland Security said the agents were conducting a “targeted enforcement operation to arrest two illegal aliens” in a post on social media platform X.
The agency said agents in “clearly marked ICE bulletproof vests” had approached a vehicle as the two alleged illegal immigrants were exiting it. The post did not specify the vehicle’s location.
One of the men, identified by Homeland Security as “Denis Guillen-Solis, a Honduran national with active warrants,” fled on foot and ended up near the surgical center.
The Homeland Security Department accused medical staff of assaulting the ICE agents and said they dragged “the officer and illegal alien into the facility.”
“Then the staff attempted to obstruct the arrest by locking the door, blocking law enforcement vehicles from moving, and even called the cops claiming there was a ‘kidnapping,’” the agency said.
The agency did not say whether any staffers would face charges.
Ontario Advanced Surgery Center, a private medical facility, is roughly 35 miles east of Los Angeles. Staff did not respond by publication time to a voicemail left by The Epoch Times seeking comment.
Javier Hernandez, executive director of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, said the ICE agents eventually arrested the Honduran man, who Hernandez said was sending money back to his home country to help fund his mother’s dialysis treatments.
As ICE has ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts, agents have entered immigration courts and workplaces to carry out arrests of illegal immigrants.
Earlier this week, the bishop of San Bernardino, California, allowed Catholic parishioners to skip their weekly obligation to attend Mass after agents made arrests at two parish properties in the diocese, which includes the community of Ontario.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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