Jan 27, 2025
Amid increased immigration enforcement in San Diego County and across the United States, one Escondido family recorded video of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at their door on Sunday, showing at least half a dozen officers around their home as they denied them entry, with one woman inside reading them her rights. ICE did not respond to multiple questions and requests for comment on this incident or the scope of the stepped-up enforcement locally. The person the officers were looking for was not there, and the people inside said they ultimately did not let the officers in without a judicial warrant. The videos show the ICE officers around the perimeter of the property, with some near the door as one approached and asked the woman recording if she spoke English. “I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions or sign you, hand you any documents based on my Fifth Amendment rights under the United States Constitution,” she began to read from her phone, continuing, “I do not give you any permission to enter my home based on my Fourth Amendment rights.” The woman recording and reading her rights – Jasmine, who asked to not use her last name to protect her safety – said the officers arrived in unmarked vehicles and asked them to open the door. Jasmine said they were looking for her uncle, who wasn’t home. She said he is undocumented but has no criminal history, adding that she and most of her family inside the home are U.S. citizens. The ICE officer in the video can be heard saying, “Right now, we only want” her uncle, adding, “but if we come in the house, we’re going to take everybody.” “It was really scary and me, like, reading my rights to them, like it just, I was shaking in the video when I was reading it to them,” Jasmine said. Jasmine said after a few minutes, the officers went to their car and returned with an ICE administrative warrant. But she said she knew they couldn’t come in without a warrant signed by a judge. “They thought that we were going to open the door for them. But no, like, you know, we have our rights too, like, we know what to do,” Jasmine said. “That warrant’s coming,” the officer can be heard saying in the video. “We can get a warrant, not a problem, if you guys don’t want to talk,” he said. “I’m a citizen, you know?” Jasmine said. “And I’m still scared, you know, like just the way that they approached us, there was a whole bunch of them like, you know, and then like them trying to tell us that they’re going to take us and stuff, like they had no right to do that.” This was one of several reports of increased immigration enforcement in the days since President Donald Trump took office, long promising “mass deportations.” Advocate Pedro Rios of the American Friends Service Committee said he’s been contacted by individuals reporting ICE activity in several communities across San Diego County: San Marcos, Encinitas, Escondido, National City and City Heights, among others. Rios said the operations in recent days differ from previous ICE enforcement in two ways. First, he said agents from other agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were assisting. He also said the timing is different. “In the past, it might have been early morning raids that were taking place. Now, we’re seeing that it’s taking place throughout the day, even into the evening,” Rios said. “These are operations that are meant to cement fear and are meant to cause confusion,” Rios said. “If there’s fear out there, hopefully this will encourage people to not commit crimes,” said San Diego County Board Supervisor Jim Desmond. “Keep your head low, you know, provide for your family. Go to work. Do your job.” “Right now, the focus is and should be on criminals, on people that are here illegally and that are committing high-level crimes,” Desmond said. Data obtained by NBC News showed ICE arrested 1,179 people nationwide Sunday – higher than the agency’s average of 311 arrests a day last year. But just 613 of the arrests made Sunday were considered “criminal arrests,” according to NBC News. Desmond said the increased enforcement is necessary, in part because the legal immigration system is “very flawed.” “We need a smoother, safer, better path for people to come to our country legally, and have their heads held high instead of always having to look over their shoulder,” Desmond said. Jasmine said she’s constantly looking over her shoulder. “I’ve always been scared,” Jasmine said. “But, like, experiencing this, it terrifies me.” ...read more read less
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