Some Encinitas residents say they were scared and confused seeing heavily armed federal agents – including Border Patrol’s specialized tactical unit – descend on a busy shopping center to make an arrest Thursday morning.
“I think right now we are seeing authoritarian tendencies,” one witness said. “When you have masked individuals in your parking lot in full battle tactical gear, I don’t know anything else that it could be.”
“It was a really just very alarming thing to witness in little Encinitas,” another added. Both asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
Videos of the scene show agents in unmarked vehicles, some in masks, some with K9s and others carrying long rifles as they walked through the parking lot of a retail center and gas station off Leucadia Boulevard and El Camino Real and searched a wooded area nearby.
“What agency are you with?” one witness asks.
“We’re not with ICE, if that’s what you’re asking,” responds an agent wearing a helmet, camouflage fatigues and carrying a rifle.
In a separate video, another witness asks an agent if he’s with ICE, to which he says he’s not, but does not respond when asked which department.
One agent’s vest reads “BORTAC,” which is Border Patrol’s tactical unit, like the agency’s SWAT team.
Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that ICE and the U.S. Marshal Service were “attempting to apprehend an illegal alien” at around 7:45 a.m. when the individual rammed one of their vehicles and fled on foot into a densely wooded area nearby.
Surveillance video of the incident obtained by NBC San Diego shows four SUVs and trucks attempt to box a sedan in. The driver of that sedan can be seen hitting one of those SUVs in what appears to be an attempt to escape, then continuing to drive before a fifth SUV blocks it, and the driver runs across Leucadia Boulevard into the trees.
CBP said ICE requested BORTAC’s help in searching the area. Witnesses said the agents appeared to leave without making an arrest by around 10 a.m., but CBP said the person was apprehended without incident. It’s not clear if the arrest was made in that search, or after.
ICE said in a statement that the man taken into custody was from Mexico, deported twice before and has a final order of removal from 2019. The agency said he will remain in ICE custody pending his removal from the country, adding, “Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, our message is clear: if you come into our country illegally and break our laws, we will find you, we will arrest you, and we will deport you.”
“I don’t know why you need such a show of force,” one witness said, adding that he did not believe the response matched the level of threat. “I’m pretty white. Would the response be the same with me? I don’t think so.”
He and another witness said they were confused in part because the agents didn’t warn them or any members of the public of any danger. But they wondered – if it was not dangerous enough to merit a warning – why did it merit such a large response?
“It really felt like living in a militarized state kind of thing,” one said, adding, “It felt reminiscent of some of what we’ve seen in other parts of the country that have resulted in people losing their lives. And I don’t want that coming to Encinitas.”
“I kind of had the realization that, you know, if there’s a shootout, we’re standing right next to gas pumps,” that witness continued. “It just started to feel really unsafe.”
“This isn’t like an intellectual thing that we’re seeing in other cities,” the other said, pointing to high-profile operations like those in Chicago, and Minneapolis, where agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens. “It’s happening here.”
When asked if they had a message for the federal agencies who deployed those agents to the shopping center, one witness said, “Get out of Encinitas.”
“There’s a percentage of people who do support what they are doing. That’s their prerogative,” the witness continued. “But by and large, Encinitas does not want this happening in our town.”
“I don’t know how you make the claim that you’re making things safer for Encinitans,” said the other. “We don’t want you here.”