Federal immigration agents made a flurry of appearances from Ventura to Moorpark on June 13, reportedly detaining more than three dozen people amid an apparent multi-day surge of activity across Ventura County.
Immigration authorities have not confirmed the reports and have remained silent about their recent local operations. Advocacy groups, the Ventura Police Department and a farmworker union shared scraps of information across social media the morning of June 13.
Primitiva Hernandez, executive director of the 805 UndocuFund, said in a phone interview that the group received reports of significant early morning activity from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, accompanied by the U.S. Border Patrol. The nonprofit is part of the 805 Immigration Coalition, a group that runs a Central Coast immigration hotline.
Hernandez said in a text message Saturday at least 40 people in the county were detained on June 13. She said Simi Valley, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park appeared to be the hardest hit.
“They were targeting bakeries, plaza and neighborhoods know to have predominantly Hispanic Latino communities,” she said, adding the group received no reports of ICE sightings early Saturday.
ICE spokespeople did not immediately respond to an emailed request for information.
The operations appeared to be concentrated in public spaces across the county, Hernandez said, a change from June 10, when agents were seen focused on agricultural fields and facilities.
“People were hit really early going to work, in bakeries, in company cars. We got reports of ICE knocking on doors,” Hernandez said.
The 805 Immigrant Coalition posted images on social media of bulky, unmarked SUVs and trucks in Border Patrol livery moving throughout the county. Several posts showed men with tactical gear, weapons and face coverings.
The coalition said agents detained three men at a small bakery in Moorpark. Other reports flooded in from Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley and Oxnard and across the county line in Santa Maria.
Moorpark, in particular, was swamped with reports of immigration enforcement activity.
“It’s been going on all morning,” said Chris Enegren, the city’s mayor and owner of Enegren Brewing. He said ICE agents parked outside the brewery with no prior notification.
“The city of Moorpark, including our local police services have no involvement, coordination or advance notice of these operations,” he said in a written statement. He said some residents were urging city leaders to issue what he called “political statements or symbolic condemnations.”
“I understand the emotion behind these requests but our role as a local government is not to escalate or politicize these events especially in ways that risk dividing our community,” Enegren said.
Others said the ICE sightings were triggering fear and keeping people out of public places.
“We’ve definitely seen a decrease in people coming in,” said an employee at the city’s Target store, declining to give her name.
Ventura Police Chief David Dickey said ICE officers showed up at the police department’s parking lot early Friday morning without any advance notice. They used the lot to stage several of their enforcement vehicles.
Emphasizing that the police department doesn’t work with ICE in any capacity, Dickey said he worried the use of the parking lot would “blur the line” and send the wrong message to the public.
“I asked them not to use city facilities or city parking lots for their operations,” he said.
Antonio De Loera-Brust, a spokesperson for United Farm Workers, said the farmworker labor union also received reports of federal immigration agents. The union posted a photo of a truck with Border Patrol markings on social media that De Loera-Brust said a staffer snapped in Moorpark.
De Loera-Brust said the union knows at least one individual, the spouse of a union member, that was detained.
“We don’t know where (immigration agents) are right now. We know there are workers in the fields that we are concerned about,” De Loera-Brust said in a morning phone interview.
Staff writer Tom Kisken contributed to this report.
Isaiah Murtaugh covers Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at isaiah.murtaugh@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236 and follow him on Twitter @isaiahembee.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Update: Dozens of unconfirmed immigration actions reported in Ventura County
Reporting by Isaiah Murtaugh, Ventura County Star / Ventura County Star
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