Eye witnesses say that ICE agents detained three workers at an Arroyo Grande carwash on Thursday, amidst reports of a statewide surge in federal immigration enforcement.
Robert Diaz, the owner of Bob’s Car Wash, said ICE agents “took my guys to the ground, and then put them in the car, treating them very roughly.”
“They didn't deserve to be treated that way,” he told KCBX.
Diaz said one of the workers was 60 years old and had been an employee for 26 years.
Arroyo Grande resident Alicia Nowicki says that around noon, she was seated at a Starbucks location next to Bob’s Car Wash on Grande Ave and Elm St. She says she then heard “a commotion” and saw a man running that she recognized as a carwash employee.
Nowicki says she then saw an agent wearing a face covering and a bullet-proof vest that said “police” chase after the employee. She recognized the worker, but didn't know his name.
“It was just upsetting to see that in a place where we think we have law and order,” she said. “How do I know that was a policeman, you know? I don’t know who it was.”
Nowicki didn’t see the agent detain the man, but other eye witnesses confirmed that three workers were arrested.
The Department of Homeland Security did not confirm by time of publishing whether federal agents made the three arrests in Arroyo Grande.
The Washington Examiner reported last week that ICE has launched a 45-day, statewide enforcement surge called “Operation Safe California” — starting in San Diego, and moving north toward San Francisco.
DHS would not confirm the existence of the surge operation to the Washington Examiner, and did not respond in time to KCBX’s question on the issue.
SLO County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg told KCBX that “everybody has to make an assumption” that the surge is part of a plan to “spread fear and intimidation” ahead of the November election.
Ortiz-Legg told KCBX that two county employees recently witnessed an ICE arrest, but she didn’t know where the arrest took place.
Cindy Lewis, a co-leader for the progressive advocacy group Indivisible North County, said a father was arrested by ICE near her home in Templeton a few weeks ago.
“This surge brings more raids, more families separated, and more of our San Luis County neighbors afraid that leaving home could mean never making it back,” she told KCBX.
