Quick Take
Immigration officials detained a Watsonville resident outside of their home just before noon Tuesday, according to grassroots organization Your Allied Rapid Response.
A Watsonville resident was arrested by federal immigration officials outside of their home Tuesday morning, according to grassroots organization Your Allied Rapid Response.
Immigration officials made the arrest a little before noon, said Dave Wilson, organizer and spokesperson for YARR, a network of volunteers who monitor suspected immigration enforcement activity in Santa Cruz County.
The family of the detained individual called YARR’s hotline after the arrest, Wilson said. The organization’s legal observers — who are trained to document activity by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — arrived at the location after the arrest was made and verified the presence of immigration officials.
The arrest did not appear to be part of a larger raid in the area, with immigration agents targeting only the individual detained Tuesday, he said. Wilson declined to share information about the person’s gender and the neighborhood where they lived out of respect for the family, he said, but noted that the arrest occurred in Watsonville. He said that YARR has been trying to help the family figure out its next steps and connect them to legal resources.
The organization posted alerts to its social media pages about ICE’s presence in Watsonville around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, and confirmed the arrest about an hour later.
ICE spokesperson Richard Beam, based in Los Angeles, said he could not confirm or deny the arrest or the presence of immigration officials in Watsonville and surrounding areas. The Watsonville Police Department said it was unable to verify whether the arrest occurred. Immigration violations are a matter of federal jurisdiction and are not enforced by the department, said spokesperson Michelle Pulido. The Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office was unable to confirm any information regarding the presence and activities of ICE agents in the county, according to spokesperson Ashley Keehn.
Wilson advises residents not to open their doors to immigration officials without seeing a warrant signed by a federal judge, and encourages them to call the YARR hotline to be connected with any necessary resources to help them navigate the immigration legal system. The organization also encourages residents to call its hotline at 831-239-4289 if they suspect ICE is in their neighborhoods.
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