Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division performed the high-profile raid on the residence of Jenny Ramirez in Huntington Park, California, on Friday. Over a dozen armed agents in full tactical gear – complete with helmets and assault rifles – conducted the operation. Instead, they broke into the home using an explosive device. This sudden move, without any context or warning, was alarming to Ramirez herself, her boyfriend, and their two young children.
The ICE raid happened in Los Angeles County, where Ramirez lives with her one-year-old and six-year-old children. Most notably, her six-year-old son is in the midst of a leukemia fight. The agents failed to give any notice before they raided the house, a harrowing experience Ramirez called it.
It was one of the loudest blasts I’ve ever experienced,” she later recalled. What happened next is terrifying—the agents instantly used a drone inside the house just after coming in.
They were looking for my boyfriend Ramirez recalled being told by the agents who swarmed her. Other than that, they wouldn’t let out any information about why they were pursuing him. Just last week, her boyfriend mistakenly drove into a truckload of federal agents. This event took place just prior to the raid.
Just last week a man was arrested in Huntington Park for impersonating an ICE agent. This incident has the community on edge. This occurrence puts an additional dent in the local law enforcement narrative.
Ramirez expressed her distress over the raid, stating, “You guys didn’t have to do this, you scared my son, my baby.” Her story captures the human cost that these harmful and abusive tactics extract on the families caught up in them.
Customs and Border Protection officials said that they detained Jorge Sierra-Hernandez. After making one too many erratic maneuvers, including ramming his car into a CBP vehicle himself, he was eventually cornered and arrested. They stressed that this action interfered with the efforts of police while they were still conducting an active operation.
“Jorge Sierra-Hernandez was arrested because he rammed his car into a CBP vehicle, causing significant damage and obstructed the work of our agents and officers during course of a law enforcement operation.” – Customs and Border Protection spokesperson