Heartbroken families are speaking out after videos captured dozens of car wash workers and at least one customer being detained in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in West Los Angeles over the weekend.
Video posted to social media showed 15-year-old Brian Vasquez screaming at border patrol agents as they took his father into custody during a weekend ICE operation in Culver City.
“I just grabbed him, told him to promise me not to sign anything, that I’ll see him very soon,” the teen told KTLA’s Sandra Mitchell, describing the moment his father was detained.
On Sunday morning, 48-year-old Arturo Vasquez was apprehended while visiting the Culver City Car Wash with his family as a customer, according to loved ones.
“I promised him I would take care of my brothers and my mom, that he should not worry about anything,” Brian said.
Family members said Arturo is undocumented but that he has no criminal record.
Another devastated resident in West L.A., Noemi Ciau, told KTLA that her husband had worked at Westchester Hand Wash for a decade and was taken into custody the same day.
“They were gone, everyone was gone,” she said. “I got in touch with a couple people who confirmed he was taken.”
Ciau said she misses her husband deeply and is struggling to explain the situation to the couple’s four young children.
“My five-year-old thinks dad’s still at work,” she said. “My 10-year-old, he kinda understands what’s going on.”
While she was aware that immigration enforcement under the Trump administration had been escalating, Ciau said she never imagined her family would be targeted.
“I just want to know where he’s at, if he’s okay, and, of course, I want him to come home,” she said.
As of Monday night, these families said they had not heard from or been able to reach their loved ones who were detained over the weekend.
The post ‘My 5-year-old thinks Dad’s still at work’: ICE targets West Los Angeles car washes appeared first on KTLA.
