Federal Agents Arrest Man in Los Angeles, Take 1-Year-Old Daughter With Them in Vehicle

A recent arrest captured on video has renewed questions about how federal immigration officers handle enforcement operations.

In Los Angeles, Border Patrol agents detained a U.S. citizen during a raid outside a Home Depot store. Footage recorded by a member of a local immigrant advocacy group appears to show two agents getting into the man's car after his arrest and driving away with his toddler still strapped in a car seat. The incident drew criticism and outrage from bystanders, who questioned the agents' actions and the agency's procedures.

"It was a dangerous act to have armed men get in a car with that child and remove her from the situation," said Lindsay Toczylowski, co-founder of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, in an interview with The Associated Press.

Toczylowski said her organization, which provides legal support in immigration cases, was contacted by community members seeking help for the family. She said the firm is not representing the man because he is a U.S. citizen, but staff later learned that the child's relatives picked her up from federal offices in Los Angeles.

"They should have followed protocols that prioritized the child's safety," she said.

Despite the video evidence, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security defended the officers' actions. In an email to The Associated Press, a spokesperson said the man was arrested after allegedly getting out of his vehicle, wielding a hammer, and throwing rocks at agents during the raid.

Officials said the man was arrested on suspicion of assault and that a pistol was later found in his car had been reported stolen in New York. They did not respond to questions about why agents drove away in the man's vehicle with the child inside.

During the operation, five other individuals were arrested on suspicion of immigration violations, according to the department.

After the raid, the man's mother told reporters that the family received a call from an unfamiliar number instructing them to pick up the girl at a Border Patrol office in Los Angeles. She said the child was safe but asked about her father's condition. Both the man and the girl are U.S. citizens, she added.

"It's something very frightening," the woman said in Spanish after watching the video. "You don't know who those people are."

Ed Obayashi, a California special prosecutor and law enforcement training expert, told The Associated Press that federal immigration agents often operate under different guidelines than local police. He said that in standard DUI cases, for example, local officers typically contact a tow company to remove vehicles and take children to the station until relatives arrive.

Obayashi said the officers in Los Angeles likely acted quickly because of the tense scene around them. "They were probably trying to get the car and the child out of there and to safety," he said.