In a video circulating on social media, a group of masked U.S. Border Patrol agents is seen striking and subduing a man in Santa Ana before forcing him into the back of an unmarked car on Saturday.
The incident sparked protests in the following hours, and an online fundraiser was started through GoFundMe, where family members identified the victim as Tustin resident Narciso Barranco, a father to three sons who are all U.S. Marines.
According to one of his sons, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, Narciso was picked up by alleged federal immigration officers while he was working as a landscaper at the IHOP on Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street.
“I think part of it is racial profiling,” Alejandro told KTLA’s Sara Welch. “They probably assumed because he was working the landscaping he had no documentation.”
The video shared by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems shows a group of Border Patrol agents wearing face coverings and tactical vests surrounding Narciso, holding him down while one agent repeatedly strikes him on his right arm and near his head.
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Congressman Lou Correa, who represents Santa Ana, called the case another example of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown striking fear in Southern California’s Latino community.
“We cannot have federal agents inciting violence in our streets and attacking innocent parents,” Rep. Correa (D-Orange County) said in a statement to KTLA 5 News. “Clearly, we need immigration reform—especially for people like Mr. Barranca who have lived in this country for 25-30 years and raised his sons to put their lives on the line to defend the United States.”
Masked Border Patrol agents detain landscaper after repeatedly hitting him
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include a response from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In a video circulating on social media, a group of masked U.S. Border Patrol …
The Santa Ana Police Department is asking residents to alert authorities if they see abandoned vehicles or property they believe may belong to someone detained by federal immigration officers. The department issued the public service announcement on social media following a high-profile immigration arrest in the city that has drawn local and national attention.
“If you believe a community member has been detained by federal officers and their vehicle or property has been left alone or abandoned, please call our Communications Division,” the statement read. Police added they would make a “reasonable effort” to contact family members or others who could retrieve the belongings. The notice was initially posted in Spanish, with a follow-up video in English.
Beating and kidnapping of Narciso Barranco by ICE Gestapo goons:
The message comes amid heightened immigration enforcement activity in Southern California, which has left many families scrambling for answers and assistance. One case in particular has sparked outrage: the arrest of Narciso Barranco in Santa Ana, a 48-year-old husband and father of three U.S. Marines.
Barranco was allegedly detained Saturday by U.S. Border Patrol agents while working as a landscaper outside an IHOP near Edinger Avenue and Ritchey Street. Video of the arrest, shared widely on social media, shows masked federal agents tackling a man to the ground, striking him, then forcing him into an unmarked silver SUV.
The footage was first posted by the Instagram account @SantaAnaProblems. In the video, agents wearing tactical vests and face coverings are seen surrounding the man, pinning him to the pavement. One agent repeatedly strikes him on the arm and near the head before others lift him up and push him into the vehicle using what appears to be a metal rod. The man did not appear to be seriously injured in the footage.
His son, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, identified the man as his father, Narciso. He told KTLA’s Sara Welch that his father has lived in the United States for nearly three decades and was targeted, he believes, because of how he looked and where he worked.
“I think part of it is racial profiling,” Alejandro said. “They probably assumed because he was working the landscaping he had no documentation.”
On Sunday evening, hundreds of community members gathered in Santa Ana for a candlelight vigil in support of Narciso. The event drew several hundred attendees, including faith leaders and elected officials, all rallying behind a family whose story has gained national attention.
“We never expected a turnout like this—all the elected officials, the support—it’s crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it, but I’m very glad we’re all here for each other,” Alejandro said.
Santa Ana police urge public to report abandoned property after immigration arrest video sparks outrage
ICE agents detain mother in Pasadena in front of children without showing a warrant (and the mother wasn’t who they were looking for — 3 masked men just jumped out of a car and grabbed her)
A mother walking with her children in Pasadena was taken into custody by immigration agents over the weekend in an incident that was partially captured on video and has drawn sharp criticism from witnesses.
Rosalina Luna Vargas, a mother of two and the primary breadwinner for her family, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Saturday morning around 8 a.m., according to bystanders. Her children were present at the time of the incident, which took place in broad daylight in the corner of Catalina and Del Mar.
The encounter was recorded by Jillian Reed, a Caltech alum and local resident, who was driving by when she noticed a commotion on the sidewalk.
In the footage she captured, three individuals in plain clothes—two of whom were masked and wore badges on lanyards—can be seen attempting to force Vargas into an unmarked Honda Accord. A third man, appearing younger and without any visible identification, also participated.
“I saw the commotion while driving, and when I slowed down, the kids shouted for help,” Reed said. “They kept asking for a warrant. They told the officers they would stop resisting if they just showed them a warrant. One of the men said he had one but didn’t show it.”
The video cuts off just as Vargas’s daughter pleads with Reed to call the police. According to Reed, she did call 911, reporting what she believed at the time to be a possible kidnapping.
As the situation escalated, Vargas allegedly broke free from the agents and ran into the courtyard of the nearby Del Mar Park Assisted Living Facility, with her children following close behind. The agents pursued, but were confronted again by the children, who physically tried to shield their mother.
“They formed a human wall,” Reed said. “One of the kids clung to her, telling her, ‘Don’t let go! Don’t let go!’ while crying. Then he started shouting to the crowd, ‘I can’t lose my mom!’”
Reed said the staff at the assisted living facility intervened, telling the agents they were on private property and could not proceed without a warrant. The agents, she said, took photos of everyone present—including Reed—before leaving in two separate vehicles.
Pasadena police later arrived and took statements from those at the scene. According to Reed, ICE agents returned later and took Vargas into custody.
A family member told Reed the warrant in question was for someone else entirely, and that Vargas and her children had simply been “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Community members say the incident highlights growing concerns over ICE’s arrest tactics and the lack of transparency in operations conducted in public areas without coordination with local law enforcement.
Reed, still shaken, called the incident “horrific” and questioned whether law enforcement procedures were followed.
“Only two of the three men had badges, and none were in uniform,” she said. “I didn’t know if I was witnessing a hate crime or a kidnapping. And because they might have been law enforcement, I wasn’t even sure whether to call the police.”
ICE has not publicly released details about the arrest, including the charges or the identity of the agents involved.
The incident comes as federal immigration enforcement actions have intensified in parts of Southern California, prompting backlash in immigrant communities and renewed debate about due process, civil rights, and the rights of children in enforcement situations.
ICE agents detain mother in Pasadena in front of children without showing a warrant
A mother walking with her children in Pasadena was taken into custody by immigration agents over the weekend in an incident that was partially captured on video and has drawn sharp criticism from w…
A new report suggests that President Donald Trump’s administration sent National Guard troops in Los Angeles to assist the Drug Enforcement Administration in a law enforcement operation about 130 miles outside the city, in a move that experts say seems unlawful.
According to the report, around 315 National Guard troops were sent to the eastern Coachella Valley region to help the DEA search a local marijuana growing operation. The DEA asked the National Guard for assistance due to the “magnitude and topography” of the operation.
Legal experts expressed alarm at the move.
“This is the slippery slope,” Ryan Goodman, law professor at New York University, wrote on Bluesky.
Federal law prohibits the National Guard from replacing local law enforcement agencies under the Posse Comitatus Act. There are limited instances where the National Guard can be used in law enforcement operations, such as to quell a rebellion. But the guardsmen have to be invited by a state’s governor under the law.
‘Slippery slope’: Experts sound alarm on Trump’s new National Guard tactic
Freedom of the press and civil rights groups are rallying around a journalist who was put in immigration custody after being arrested while covering a protest in Atlanta, warning that his detention could chill press freedoms and put noncitizen journalists at risk.
Mario Guevara, an independent digital journalist who reports in Spanish, has been held for a week after law enforcement officials turned him over to Immigration and Custom Enforcement.
Guevara has authorization to live and work in the U.S., his attorney, Giovanni Diaz, told The Associated Press. Guevara also has an application pending with the Department of Homeland Security for legal permanent residency, sponsored by an adult son who is a U.S. citizen, the attorney said.
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Guevara was arrested June 14 while livestreaming a “No Kings” protest against President Donald Trump’s immigration policies in the Embry Hills neighborhood near Atlanta.
Backlash after ICE detains journalist covering ‘No Kings’ immigration protests
Press groups are calling for the release of Mario Guevara, an independent journalist who faces deportation after he was arrested and charged with misdemeanors while covering a protest.
Illegal immigrants who sought to stave off deportation by filing asylum claims may find themselves in line for deportation according to a new report.
According to CNN, federal officials are considering a plan in which they would dismiss asylum claims for illegal immigrants, which would make them what CNN called “immediately deportable.”
CNN cited sources it did not name for the report.
The report said that illegal immigrants whose asylum claims are terminated would be subject to expedited removal.
Closing the cases of illegal immigrants who sought asylum with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will impact thousands of illegal immigrants, which the CNN report estimating there were about 250,000 cases in 2023 alone, during the height of the Biden-era spike in illegal immigrants entering the U.S.
The report said about 1.45 million people have asylum applications pending.
That’s almost 1.5 million lives (not counting friends and family) that can be turned inside out and upside down. Homan & Noem must be getting really excited, already savoring the fear and anxiety they will inflict.
Trump Admin Preparing Move That Would Allow for Mass Deportation of Hundreds of Thousands of Illegal Aliens: Report
A new report says the Trump administraiotn may be looking at another option to deport illegal immigrants across America.
Border czar Tom Homan has revealed that he’s living away from his wife because of death threats he’s receiving.
“I spent a lot of time with my boys growing up, but as I got more and more — climbed the ladder of what I’ve done with ICE director and now back — I don’t see my family very much,” Homan told Post columnist Miranda Devine during an interview airing Wednesday on her new podcast, “Pod Force One.”
Glad to hear that the piece of human detritus is experiencing at least a little bit of the fear and anxienty that he and his cronies inflict on thousands of American immigrants.
Exclusive | Border czar Tom Homan tells ‘Pod Force One’ he’s living apart from his wife over death threats
“I see her as much as I can, but the death threats against me and my family are outrageous,” Homan told Post columnist Miranda Devine on her new podcast “Pod Force One.”
However, Delegate Mike Jones (D-Richmond), who represents parts of Chesterfield County, said ICE hasn’t provided any evidence to show that those who were arrested were actually violent criminals.
“They’re just dressed in basic clothes, but then they’re snatching people,” Jones said. “What type of message is that to send in America?”
Jones added that ICE is striking fear into the community, something that may lead to immigrants not reporting criminal activity or refusing to show up to courts for any reason.
“They will remain silent, and that just means they are opening themselves up to be targeted even more,” Jones said.
Virginia lawmakers react to ICE arrests at the Chesterfield County Courthouse
The federal agency charged with protecting workers’ civil rights has terminated a New York administrative judge who opposed White House directives, including President Donald Trump’s executive order decreeing male and female as two “immutable” sexes.
In February, Administrative Judge Karen Ortiz, who worked in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s New York office, called Trump’s order “unethical” and criticized Acting Chair Andrea Lucas — Trump’s pick to lead the agency — for complying with it by pausing work on legal cases involving discrimination claims from transgender workers. In an email copied to more than 1,000 colleagues, Ortiz pressed Lucas to resign.
Judge Ortiz probably should have been a bit for discrete, but thank you for standing up for what is right.
A judge resisted Trump’s order on gender identity. The EEOC just fired her
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has fired New York administrative judge Karen Ortiz, who has openly criticized the agency’s compliance with President Donald Trump’s executive order defining male and female as “immutable” sexes.
Three former NOAA employees told NBC News they had received debt notices from the federal government for health care coverage.
Some former employees of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration who were fired, rehired and fired again this spring say they have received debt notices from the federal government to pay it back for health care coverage. Those workers also say the notices are for coverage they never had.
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Three former NOAA employees shared letters titled “DEMAND NOTICE FOR PAYMENT” with NBC News. The letters, dated June 16, claimed the employees owed a debt — sometimes hundreds of dollars — and that interest could be charged. The letters also warned that the debt would be reported to a credit bureau if it went unpaid.
“It’s very gloomy and threatening language,” said Sarah Cooley, who was fired as the agency’s ocean acidification program director in late February.
Fired, rehired and fired again, some NOAA employees get letters demanding money
Three former NOAA employees told NBC News they had received debt notices from the federal government for health care coverage.
