Latest news with #AndreaVelez
Yahoo
28-06-2025
- Yahoo
Andrea Velez: U.S. woman detained by ICE after being ambushed by unmarked cars in Los Angeles
The Brief Andrea Velez, a United States citizen, was ambushed by a group of people from an unmarked vehicle, her attorneys say. Velez was detained by ICE and was charged with "obstructing an ICE officer." FOX 11 tried to contact Homeland Security, but the department could not be reached for comment before 9 p.m., June 26. LOS ANGELES - A woman who was walking to work in downtown Los Angeles got ambushed by a group of people from an unmarked car, according to her attorney. What we know Attorneys Gregory Russell and Luis Carrillo spoke on 32-year-old Andrea Velez's behalf in recalling the traumatic event. Velez ended up getting detained in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 24. Carrillo accused the Los Angeles Police Department of not saving Velez when the American citizen got ambushed by the alleged agents. "[Velez] ran to the LAPD," Carrillo recalled. "The officers… didn't give her any protection. They let the ICE people take her away." The LAPD has since said the department doesn't get involved with immigration operations, and their job focuses more on providing crowd control. Velez has since been released on bond, but was charged with "obstructing an ICE officer." The Source This report used information provided by attorneys representing Velez. FOX 11 tried to contact Homeland Security, but could not be reached for comment before 9 p.m. on June 26.
The Guardian
27-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US citizen arrested during Ice raid in what family describes as ‘kidnapping'
A US citizen was arrested during an immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles this week in what her family described as a 'kidnapping' by federal immigration agents. Andrea Velez, 32, had just been dropped off at work by her mother and sister, the pair said, when they saw agents grab her. 'My mom looked at the rear mirror and she saw how my sister was attacked from the back,' Estrella Rosas told ABC7. 'She was like: 'They're kidnapping your sister.'' Velez, a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, was taken into custody during an immigration raid on Tuesday. In video captured from the scene, agents can be seen surrounding her as a crowd gathers in the street and police officers stand by. Meanwhile, Rosas and her mother, who has residency but is not a citizen, screamed from a nearby vehicle for help. 'She's a US citizen,' Rosas said through tears. 'They're taking her. Help her, someone.' In other video, an agent can be seen lifting Velez off the ground and carrying her away. Witnesses told media, including CBS Los Angeles, that the agents never asked Velez for identification, and that she did nothing wrong. 'The only thing wrong with her … was the color of her skin,' Velez's mother, Margarita Flores, told CBS Los Angeles. The incident comes as numerous US citizens have been swept up in the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants. People have reported they are being targeted for their skin color and for attempting to aid immigrants being detained by immigration agents. While it's not yet clear how many citizens have been affected by the administration's attack on immigrant communities, a government report found that between 2015 and 2020, Ice erroneously deported at least 70 US citizens, arrested 674 and detained 121. Velez's family was unaware of her whereabouts for more than a day until attorneys for the family tracked her down. 'It took us four hours to find her and we're attorneys. That's crazy,' attorney Dominique Boubion told ABC7. 'Just to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and you have the full weight of the federal government against you and your family can't find you – it is very scary.' Authorities have not told lawyers what charges Velez faces, but an official with the Department of Homeland Security told media that she was arrested for assaulting an Ice officer. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Cal Poly Pomona graduate released after immigration arrest in downtown L.A.
Federal authorities on Thursday released the Cal Poly Pomona graduate who was arrested during an immigration enforcement operation downtown Los Angeles earlier this week. Andrea Guadalupe Velez, who is a U.S. citizen, expressed her relief after spending the past two days in a federal detention facility. "It's been hard," Velez said. "I didn't know all this media coverage was happening and I'm just relieved that I'm outside." Velez's mother and sister recorded federal agents carrying Velez away during an immigration enforcement operation. Her family had just dropped her off at the shoe store and had barely even driven a block before the arrest began. Velez said she remembered masked men suddenly surrounding her. "It was just a day of work and everything happened so fast," Velez said. "They didn't identify themselves, so I was kind of scared. I was like 'what's going on?' ... I wasn't doing anything crazy. I was just going to follow orders, and they decided to pick me up, and that was kind of shocking." On Wednesday, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Velez "was arrested for assaulting an ICE enforcement officer." In the criminal complaint against Velez, a federal agent said, "he saw a woman (later identified as Velez) step into his path and extend one of her arms in an apparent effort to prevent him from apprehending the male subject he was chasing." Velez denied the claim. She added that she did not know the man and believes she was profiled. "When I was already in the car, arrested, they asked for my ID, and they were kind of questioning whether I was a U.S. citizen or not," she said. "I'm Latina, so I'm pretty sure I was probably racially profiled." CBS News Los Angeles contacted DHS for a comment on Velez's claims. They did not respond as of Thursday night.
The Guardian
26-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
US citizen arrested during Ice raid in what family describes as ‘kidnapping'
A US citizen was arrested during an immigration raid in downtown Los Angeles this week in what her family described as a 'kidnapping' by federal immigration agents. Andrea Velez, 32, had just been dropped off at work by her mother and sister, the pair said, when they saw agents grab her. 'My mom looked at the rear mirror and she saw how my sister was attacked from the back,' Estrella Rosas told ABC7. 'She was like: 'They're kidnapping your sister.'' Velez, a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona, was taken into custody during an immigration raid on Tuesday. In video captured from the scene, agents can be seen surrounding her as a crowd gathers in the street and police officers stand by. Meanwhile, Rosas and her mother, who has residency but is not a citizen, screamed from a nearby vehicle for help. 'She's a US citizen,' Rosas said through tears. 'They're taking her. Help her, someone.' In other video, an agent can be seen lifting Velez off the ground and carrying her away. Witnesses told media, including CBS Los Angeles, that the agents never asked Velez for identification, and that she did nothing wrong. 'The only thing wrong with her … was the color of her skin,' Velez's mother, Margarita Flores, told CBS Los Angeles. The incident comes as numerous US citizens have been swept up in the Trump administration's crackdown on immigrants. People have reported they are being targeted for their skin color and for attempting to aid immigrants being detained by immigration agents. While it's not yet clear how many citizens have been affected by the administration's attack on immigrant communities, a government report found that between 2015 and 2020, Ice erroneously deported at least 70 US citizens, arrested 674 and detained 121. Velez's family was unaware of her whereabouts for more than a day until attorneys for the family tracked her down. 'It took us four hours to find her and we're attorneys. That's crazy,' attorney Dominique Boubion told ABC7. 'Just to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and you have the full weight of the federal government against you and your family can't find you – it is very scary.' Authorities have not told lawyers what charges Velez faces, but an official with the Department of Homeland Security told media that she was arrested for assaulting an Ice officer. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
25-06-2025
- CBS News
Family members outraged as U.S. citizen detained by federal agents in downtown LA on way to work
Family members outraged as U.S. citizen detained by federal agents in downtown LA on way to work Family members outraged as U.S. citizen detained by federal agents in downtown LA on way to work Family members outraged as U.S. citizen detained by federal agents in downtown LA on way to work The family members of a U.S. citizen who was taken into custody by federal agents in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday are demanding answers as she was detained while on her way to work. Andrea Velez, a Cal Poly Pomona grad working in merchandising at a shoe company, had just been dropped off by her mother and sister for the workday when they saw her being taken into custody, adding they had barely even driven a block before the arrest began. "They didn't have vests that said ICE or anything," said Velez's sister Estrella Rosas. "Their cars didn't have license plates." She says that her mother was driving away when she looked in her rearview mirror at what was described by police as immigration enforcement. "In the rear mirror she saw my sister was kinda, like, attacked from the back and she was already on the floor," Rosas said. Video shows a growing crowd of onlookers yelling as officers surround the 32-year-old woman. Her family members were too scared to get out, as Rosas' mother has residency but not full U.S. citizenship. They're also worried that Velez may have been holding pepper spray, which they say she always carries in her hand when walking downtown, when agents approached her. Witnesses told CBS News Los Angeles that no one asked for her identification, but her family believes that it was nothing she actually did that led to her arrest, but rather the way she looks. "Just because of the color of our skin, they think we're criminals," Rosas said. "My sister was there, so they were like, 'Oh, she looks Hispanic, so let's take her too.'" As of Tuesday night, they have still not been able to find out where Velez is being held and are worried it could be days before they finally do. CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for information on Velez's arrest but has not yet heard back. An inquiry was also made asking how agents check a person's status when they first come into contact, and how they find the people they're targeting in enforcement operations. Some of the video circulating online, showing Velez's arrest, also shows a group of Los Angeles police who appear to be aiding federal agents in the immigration operations. Later Tuesday, officers told CBS News Los Angeles that they were called to the area after receiving a 911 call reporting a kidnapping at the location. When they arrived, they say that they saw that a federal immigration operation was underway and stayed to maintain peace because they were concerned by the growing crowd and the federal agents.
