Two employees of the Ontario (Calif.) Advanced Surgery Center have been charged with interfering with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation blocking agents from arresting a man who ran inside the ASC, The Independent reported July 27.
The initial incident took place July 8, when ICE agents targeted Denis Guillen-Solis while he was landscaping with two other men outside the ASC. Javier Hernandez, a representative of the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, told KTLA July 10 that the officers never identified themselves. He said that the agents began chasing Mr. Guillen-Solis, who ran inside the ASC.
Mr. Hernandez said that ASC staff locked the door before two other agents arrived. When the agents realized the door was locked, they tried to break the door, he told the publication.
In a cellphone video of the incident, medical staff wearing scrubs can be seen and heard telling the agents to leave and repeatedly asking them for a warrant and identification, which Mr. Hernandez said were never presented. Agents can be seen attempting to detain Mr. Guillen-Solis while he held onto the doorway.
Criminal charges have now been filed against Jose Ortega and Danielle Davila. Mr. Ortega was arrested July 25 and has made his first court appearance, while authorities are still searching for Ms. Davila, according to The Independent.
“The illegal alien arrested inside the surgery center was not a patient. He ran inside for cover and these defendants attempted to block his apprehension by assaulting our agents,” Bill Essayli, interim U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, told the publication. “It doesn’t matter who you are or where you work, if you assault our agents or otherwise interfere with our operations, you will be arrested and charged with a federal crime.”
“This arrest was not about law enforcement,” said Synai Alas, the niece of one of the targeted immigrants, said in a press conference cited by The Independent. “It was about silencing him. My uncle is being targeted and prosecuted, not because he broke any law, but because he has fearlessly stood up to defend constitutional rights.”
