Immigrant advocates are condemning a cellphone video captured Monday in Orange County of an apparent federal agent taking down a man on the sidewalk.
Scarlett Soberanis, the 14-year-old who recorded the video, says she, her mother, and her sister were coming from lunch Monday mid-morning when the incident unfolded right in front of them.
In the video, the three women gasp in disbelief as they watch what appears to be a Customs and Border Patrol agent making a sprint toward a man near the intersection of Westminster Boulevard and Euclid. The official then grabs the man and throws him to the ground.
“I just felt my blood boil. I was feeling a wave of emotions,” said Soberanis.
The Soberanis family doesn’t know the man and NBC4 is still attempting to identify him and learn more about why he was detained.
Soberanis says she is angry and heartbroken to see anybody treated in that manner.
“I think it’s raising awareness that it’s just wrong the way we are people treated, especially people of color, because they were walking down the street, not doing anything,” said Soberanis.
The take down happened around the corner from Viterise, a community and immigration advocacy group, which shared Soberanis’ video.
“We know that Vietnamese people are deeply impacted by threats of deportation and detention. And we stand in solidarity with our Latino neighbors who are enduring the same kind of unjust enforcement,” said Indigo Vu, immigration advocacy manager.
Vietrise is one of several advocacy groups now patrolling neighborhoods to warn the community about immigration enforcement.
“We’re telling people also to be in communication with their families, their neighbors, so that they can be in networks that keep each other safe,” said Vu.
Soberanis says she posted her video to document what she saw.
“I think my video made a difference because this is what’s happening and it’s not just stories that people are making up. It’s happening in real life and it’s happening right now,” said Soberanis.
She says her parents are now too afraid to leave the house.
I’m the daughter of undocumented people, it’s scary to know you can’t even go out now,” said Soberanis. “You never know what you’re going to see, if you’re going to be detained, if you’re going to see an ICE truck. It’s just very scary times.”