An Oakland community is on edge Thursday after a group of neighbors, including a minor, were detained Wednesday morning by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
People who saw the ICE agents in their neighborhood were calling it a surreal scene.
“There was a dozen agents inside the yard behind the fence,” one resident in the East Oakland neighborhood said.
Immigration attorneys told NBC Bay Area that six people were detained inside their home on Hillside Street near 79th Avenue. One of those taken into custody was a minor.
“There were no warrants for anybody’s arrests,” said Lourdes Martinez, an attorney with Centro Legal de la Raza and a participant in the county’s Rapid Response team.
Martinez said they were able to advocate for the minor to stay in a hotel Wednesday night, but she said later the minor was brought back to the ICE processing center.
“What we know so far is that the minor was detained unlawfully,” Martinez said. “We’re engaging in advocacy to get this minor released.”
ICE did not respond to requests for comment.
Some in the East Oakland community are fearful ICE agents could return to their neighborhood.
Source: NBC Bay Area