Loved ones are distraught after a father was detained by immigration agents while he was shopping at a Home Depot store in Burbank.
Carlos Mejia Osorio, 42, is a father of five children and works as a handyman and contractor.
On June 19, Osorio and his adult son, Jonathan Chavez, were picking up materials and supplies for a job when federal immigration agents suddenly appeared.
“We were loading up the truck and then right when we’re about to leave, he was about to get into the car, two agents just came out of nowhere and started chasing him,” Jonathan told KTLA’s Rick Chambers.
Video of the incident was posted to Burbank Mayor Nikki Perez’s Instagram page, where Osorio is seen being chased down the parking lot by an agent.
He was eventually detained and taken to a detention center in downtown Los Angeles. The day Osorio was taken, he was fixing a fence in Mia Hopkey’s backyard.
“There’s an enormous amount of guilt, was the first thing I felt,” Hopkey said. “We had a hole in the fence that needed to be patched. He was working here. He went to pick up some lumber from Home Depot and that’s when he was taken.”
Osorio came to the U.S. illegally from Guatemala around 20 years ago. He has since raised a family in Southern California, worked to provide for his wife and children and paid his taxes, his family said.
Friends and neighbors told KTLA they were distraught to hear of Osorio’s detainment. They described him as a hardworking family man who is loved by his community.
“We’re reeling from it,” said Alex Meiners, a friend. “He’s the first person I thought about [when the ICE raids began.] Just seeing how they were doing it and just targeting brown people. He’s been here for 20 years. He’s been a community member. He goes to church.”
“He is not the person that ICE should be going after,” Hopkey said. “He’s an outstanding member of the community. He’s a loving husband, father and friend. He doesn’t deserve this.”
Family members said they’ve had little information about his case and what the next steps might be. They’re concerned about his wife and children as he is their primary provider.
On Friday night, loved ones were able to contact Osorio and confirmed he was transferred to a facility in Arizona and will likely to be moved to the Houston, Texas area this week.
A GoFundMe page to help Osorio’s family can be found here.
The post Father detained by immigration agents while shopping at Home Depot in Burbank appeared first on KTLA.
