Immigration and Customs Enforcement detained a 30-year-old man inside an ASC in Ontario, Calif., in what quickly escalated into a heated encounter between staff and federal agents, KTLA reported July 9.
Masked federal immigration officers targeted Denis Guillen-Solis while he was landscaping with two other men outside the Ontario Advanced Surgery Center. Javier Hernandez, a representative of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, told KTLA that the officers never identified themselves. He said that the agents began chasing Mr. Guillen-Solis, who ran inside the ASC.
Mr. Hernandez said that ASC staff locked the door before two other agents arrived. When the agents realized the door was locked, they allegedly tried to break the door.
In a cellphone video of the incident, medical staff wearing scrubs can be seen and heard telling the agents to leave and repeatedly asking them for a warrant and identification, which Mr. Hernandez said were never presented. Agents can be seen attempting to detain Mr. Guillen-Solis while he held onto the doorway.
In a statement to KTLA the Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin said, “ICE officers conducted a targeted enforcement operation to arrest two illegal aliens. Officers in clearly marked ICE bulletproof vests approached the illegal alien targets as they exited a vehicle. One of the illegal aliens, Denis Guillen-Solis, who is from Honduras, fled on foot to evade law enforcement. He ended up near the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center where hospital staff assaulted law enforcement and drug the officer and illegal alien into the facility. Then, the staff attempted to obstruct the arrest by locking the door, blocking law enforcement vehicles from moving, and even called the cops claiming there was a ‘kidnapping.’”
It is unclear if any of the ASC staff members will face federal charges, according to the report.
In January, the Trump administration rescinded a policy that designated medical clinics as “sensitive” areas, alongside schools and churches, allowing ICE and other federal agents to act with fewer restrictions in these areas.
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