SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained two parents near John Marshall Elementary School in San Diego Wednesday morning, and at least one of the arrests was caught on camera.
Video shared with ABC 10News shows an ICE officer trying to take a woman into custody at a house near John Marshall Elementary School in the Chollas Creek neighborhood, as construction workers on the property tried to intervene.
The arrest happened around 8:45 a.m., minutes after school drop-off, at the corner of Loris Street and Altadena Avenue, about one block from the school.
Witnesses say ICE officers followed and stopped a Toyota Prius at that intersection. They say other vehicles came from the opposite direction, boxing the car in.
"Other cars came from the opposite way, and also kind of cornered them so they didn't have a way to get out; they were just pinned in one spot," a parent who witnessed the stop said in a phone interview with ABC 10News.
The car was left parked along the curb with pictures of children visible on the dashboard. Witnesses say the man and woman inside took off running. The woman, who was barefoot, ran toward the house where construction workers were on the job.
Construction workers recorded approximately 5 minutes of video, which they shared with ABC 10News reporter Laura Acevedo. The video shows the ICE officer at times inside the house, ordering the woman to put her hands behind her back as she pleads for help and tells the workers her daughter attends the nearby school.
ABC 10News blurred the woman's face in the video because ICE has not confirmed why she was detained. Portions of her body that were exposed, showing her undergarments, were also blurred.
"My boss tried to get involved but the officer kind of like, unlocked his gun, or I don't know, then he took out his spray, the pepper spray, and told us to get back," one construction worker said in Spanish.
After the woman was placed in handcuffs, video shows the officer heading back into the house to retrieve his gun, which he apparently dropped in the scuffle.
The construction workers, who asked to remain anonymous, said they repeatedly told the ICE officer he had entered private property. They said the homeowner was not home when the incident occurred.
"She was crying about her daughter; she'd say 'my daughter! My daughter!' but we couldn't do anything," a construction worker said in Spanish.
San Diego Unified School District confirmed the man and woman detained are the parents of the 2- and 5-year-old children who attend a program at John Marshall Elementary. District officials said the children were not present during the incident and were doing well, taking part in normal school activities. A known family friend was contacted to pick the children up, since both parents were taken into ICE custody.
ABC 10News reached out to ICE at both the local and national level to find out the identities of the people detained and whether they had any criminal record. As of publication, ICE had not responded.
The car was towed onto school property Wednesday afternoon.
Late Wednesday afternoon, San Diego Unified sent a lengthy joint statement condemning ICE arrests near their campuses. You can read the full statement below.
"Over the last two weeks, parents of our students have been detained by ICE in neighborhoods near our schools. Whatever the intent or circumstances of these operations, their proximity to schools, particularly during drop off and pick up times has a profound impact on entire school communities.
When immigration enforcement occurs near a school, the effects do not end with the individual being detained. Children see it. Families hear about it. Fear travels quickly through classrooms, playgrounds, and neighborhoods. Students arrive at school carrying questions and anxiety that no child, especially our youngest learners, should have to carry.
We are asking federal authorities, clearly and urgently: please stop conducting immigration enforcement near our schools and during school arrival and dismissal times.
Schools should not become the backdrop for enforcement activity and school routines should not become opportunities for it.
Our educators work every day to create places where children feel safe enough to learn, belong, and thrive. This destabilizes the sense of safety and places an additional burden on all of us. We are the ones consoling, moving cars, collecting belongings left behind by these covert operations.
For the sake of the children we serve and represent, we are asking for restraint, humanity, and distance.
Let schools remain places where children can simply be children."
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