Brian Gavidia was at work on West Olympic Boulevard in Montebello at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday when he was advised immigration brokers had been exterior of his office.
Gavidia, 29, was born and raised in East Los Angeles and fixes and sells automobiles for a residing. He mentioned he stepped exterior. And noticed 4 to 6 brokers.
Inside seconds, he mentioned, one in all them — sporting a vest with “Border Patrol Federal Agent” written on the again — approached him.
“Cease proper there,” he mentioned the agent advised him. Then the agent questioned whether or not Gavidia was American.
“I’m an American citizen,” Gavidia mentioned he advised the agent no less than thrice.
Regardless of his responses, the agent pushed him right into a metallic gate, put his arms behind his again and requested him what hospital he was born in, Gavidia mentioned.
Rattled by the encounter, he mentioned he couldn’t bear in mind the hospital.
Video taken by a buddy exhibits two brokers holding Gavidia in opposition to a blue fence. He tells them they’re twisting his arm.
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“I’m American, bro!” Gavidia mentioned within the video.
“What hospital had been you born?” the agent requested once more, this time recorded within the video.
“I don’t know dawg!” he mentioned. “East L.A. bro! I can present you: I’ve my f—ing Actual ID.”
His buddy, who Gavidia didn’t title, narrated the video. Because the incident continued, he mentioned: “These guys, actually based mostly off of pores and skin shade! My homie was born right here!” The buddy mentioned Gavidia was being questioned “simply due to the way in which he seems. “
Gavidia mentioned he gave the Border Patrol agent his Actual ID, however the agent by no means returned it to him. The agent additionally took his telephone and stored it for 20 minutes, he mentioned, earlier than lastly returning it.
Even after the agent noticed his ID, Gavidia mentioned, he by no means apologized.
In a response to questions from the Occasions, U.S. Customs and Border Safety didn’t reply questions in regards to the encounter with Gavidia.
The company mentioned in an announcement that it’s “conducting focused immigration enforcement in assist of ICE operations throughout the Los Angeles space. Imposing immigration regulation shouldn’t be non-obligatory — it’s important to defending America’s nationwide safety, public security, and financial power.”
The assertion continued: “Each removing of an unlawful alien helps restore order and reinforce the rule of regulation.”
Pressed by The Occasions for solutions about that particular encounter, a CBP spokesperson mentioned: “The assertion offered is the one information obtainable in regards to the operation at the moment.”
The Division of Homeland Safety didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Gavidia mentioned one other buddy was arrested that afternoon on the similar location. His title is Javier Ramirez, and he, too, is an American citizen. Tomas De Jesus, Ramirez’s cousin and his lawyer, mentioned immigration brokers had entered a personal enterprise, “and not using a warrant and not using a possible trigger, to warrant getting into into a spot like that.”
De Jesus mentioned his cousin started alerting individuals to the presence of the brokers. He mentioned he solely discovered of his cousin’s whereabouts on Friday afternoon and mentioned authorities are accusing him of “resisting arrest, assaulting individuals.”
“We’re nonetheless conducting an investigation to actually perceive and verify the details of the case,” De Jesus mentioned. De Jesus mentioned he referred to as the Metropolitan Detention Middle and recognized himself as an lawyer wishing to talk together with his shopper, however he was advised attorneys weren’t allowed to see their purchasers for the time being.
“I used to be not given permission, I used to be not given entry to even converse to him on the telephone,” he mentioned.
Montebello Mayor Salvador Melendez, who watched video of the encounter with Gavidia, referred to as the scenario “simply extraordinarily irritating.
“It simply looks as if there’s no due course of,” he mentioned. “They’re simply getting of us that appear to be our neighborhood and taking them and questioning them.”
Melendez mentioned he obtained a name from a resident when immigration brokers had been on Olympic Boulevard. Melendez mentioned he heard they had been going out to different places within the metropolis, too.
“They’re going for a particular look, which is a glance of our Latino neighborhood, our immigrant neighborhood,” he mentioned.
Gavidia mentioned his mom is Colombian and his father is Salvadoran. They’re Americans.
“He violated my rights as an American citizen,” Gavidia mentioned, his voice shaking with anger as he spoke over the telephone from his enterprise Friday. “It was the worst expertise I ever felt. I felt truthfully like I used to be going to die. He actually racked a chamber in his AR-15.”
Gavidia‘s garments had been soiled from work, and he mentioned he figured that’s partly why brokers questioned him.
“I’m authorized,” he mentioned. “I converse good English. I additionally converse good Spanish. I’m bilingual, however that doesn’t imply that I’ve to be picked out, like ‘This guys appears Latino; this man appears a little bit bit soiled.’ I’m working, guys. I’m an American. We work. I’m Latino. We work.”
He added: “It’s simply scary, strolling whereas brown, strolling whereas soiled, coming dwelling from work, there’s a excessive probability you would possibly get picked up.”
Gavidia mentioned he nonetheless doesn’t have his Actual ID again. He went to the Division of Motor Automobiles Friday morning and mentioned immigration brokers had stolen his ID. He mentioned he was advised he would want to reapply for one more one.
“He took my ticket to freedom,” Gavidia mentioned.
