Andrea Velez, a 32-year-old U.S. citizen, was arrested on Tuesday during an ICE raid in downtown Los Angeles. A traumatic experience turned into cautious good luck just minutes after Velez walked into work, courtesy of her mom and sister. They saw the arrest happen literally under their noses. Surveillance video footage depicting the arrest shows an agent lifting Velez off the ground. Through all of this, her family is horrified and indignant as they see her leave… carried off.
Velez’s family continues to be outraged and in disbelief over the arrest. As such, they’re dubbing it a “kidnapping” by federal immigration agents. The family was not even told where she was more than a day after the crash. Attorneys for the family found Velez after allegedly four hours of searching. If it took us four hours to track her down and we’re lawyers. That’s outrageous,” remarked Dominique Boubion, one of the family’s attorneys.
During her testimony before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Margarita Flores, Velez’s mother, highlighted the racial dynamics at play in this incident. “The only thing wrong with her was the color of her skin,” she said. She highlighted that these arrests overwhelmingly affect people of color. Velez’s sister, Estrella Rosas, recounted witnessing the arrest: “My mom looked at the rear mirror and she saw how my sister was attacked from the back.”
According to a Department of Homeland Security official, Velez is charged with. These charges are tied to an alleged attack on an ICE officer during the arrest of an undocumented immigrant. Yet, under the guidelines of the charges authorities filed, they have refused to disclose to her lawyers any particulars about the charges. This unprecedented lack of transparency has sparked further alarm among immigrant rights advocates.
As we documented in our summary last week, the incident quickly received major media attention. Between 2015 and 2020, ICE wrongfully deported at least 70 U.S. citizens, arrested 674, and detained 121 U.S. citizens. Such statistics only highlight the relentless animosities concerning immigration enforcement policies in the United States.
A proud graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, the family of Velez maintains that she represents no danger to the public. In a community already on edge, outrage grows as so many in the community unite around Velez and her family. They stand up against the brutality of federal agents and call for justice.