On Sunday, June 22, an undocumented immigrant working as a gardener was slammed to the ground by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents who did not identify themselves at the time of the arrest in the city of Santa Ana, California.
Several agents with their faces covered knocked Narciso Barranco to the ground, where they pepper-sprayed him, beat him, and dislocated his shoulder. For this reason, ICE operations have left a wave of fear and confusion among the Hispanic community, which complains about the use of violent tactics by federal agents.
The video of the gardener's arrest went viral on social media and fueled criticism of the apparent excessive use of force to detain the 48-year-old migrant, the father of three U.S. citizens who have served in the U.S. Army, two of whom are currently serving in the Marine Corps.
"I don't think it was fair, I don't think it was equitable. I'm not sure they need four guys over 200 pounds to hold a 150-pound guy," said Alejandro Barranco, the son of the immigrant detained by immigration agents who did not show their badge and refused to give his name during the ICE raids.
Outrage after beating of gardener in California
The images of the arrest caused such a stir that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the U.S. government agency in charge of overseeing ICE operations, said in a statement that the agents reacted forcefully because they were defending themselves against the Mexican gardener.
"The officers were defending themselves from the individual who had a lawn mower in his hands that he was working with," the federal government's executive department added. However, several witnesses told the U.S. newspaper Los Angeles Times that the gardener was frightened when he was surrounded by ICE agents.
"The man (Narciso Barranco) got scared when he saw that he was surrounded by the ICE masked men. That's why he ran away with the tool in his hands and did not try at any time to hit the agents," a witness told the U.S. media, which criticized the excessive use of force in the arrests of immigrants.
"We all saw the gardener being slammed to the ground by masked agents without identification. There should be a law that requires immigration officers to show their badge and give their name in ICE operations, because currently we can't report them because we don't know their identity," added another witness to the event.
"My father is a hard-working man with no criminal record. But despite having dedicated more than 30 years of his life to this country, to President Donald Trump's administration, he is just undocumented," said Emanuel Barranco, son of the detainee, who revealed that Narciso is in the Los Angeles detention center.
"I saw my dad with a torn shirt and he complained to me of intense pain in his shoulder. I think he was detained because of the way he looked; the officers didn't say or ask him anything. They just started chasing him down the street, and he ran because he got scared. He didn't know who was chasing him," concluded Luis Barranco, the youngest of his sons.