Concerns are growing in a Southern California neighborhood after a man reported that federal immigration agents took him while his two gardeners were working at his home.
On Thursday morning, Christopher Ames mentioned that his gardener was mowing the lawn outside his house in Ontario, California, when a neighbor witnessed the arrest and quickly informed him.
“They left the mower running on the grass, and they threw my gardener’s phone at him. They just took off, leaving everything behind,” Ames shared.
One neighbor expressed feeling unsettled by the situation.
“I think it’s wrong,” Ames told KTLA. “This isn’t how we treat people. It’s not the way this country should behave.”
This incident coincides with a recent ramp-up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations across the region, which has sparked protests in Los Angeles this month.
About 200 Marines have been deployed to the city, with over 2,000 California National Guard troops currently on the ground. The White House reported that at least 330 immigrants have been arrested since the operations began.
Later on Thursday night, a man named Lewis, a relative of one of the gardeners, returned the work truck home.
Lewis stated that two men were taken by agents and they had been unable to reach them since.
“They are my family, and we live in fear,” he expressed.
A neighbor, Rose, witnessed the arrest from her home across the street.
“I understand people are just doing their jobs and that some are here illegally,” she noted. “I see the bigger picture, but I really hope they had the chance to contact their families before being taken away.”
Since the gardener’s cell phone was left behind, Rose reached out to inform his loved ones that he had been detained, highlighting concerns for his well-being.
“As a mother and wife, it’s terrifying to think you’re waiting for someone to come home and then they don’t, with no way to get in touch,” she said.
The family expressed their worries about not knowing where the two men were being held and wanted to contact them urgently.
While authorities didn’t directly comment on the gardeners’ situation, the Ontario Police Department confirmed to KTLA that ICE agents were active in Ontario on Thursday morning.
