Four people were arrested on Tuesday afternoon after they allegedly tried to disable U.S. Border Patrol vehicles during a federal immigration enforcement action in Van Nuys.
According to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino, the suspects “attempted to impede and obstruct our efforts, using improvised devices aimed at disabling our vehicles.”
In Van Nuys, Latinos make up the majority of the population, with estimates around 60 to 63%. Van Nuys, a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, has also been hit with ICE raids in recent weeks.
On the social media platform X, Bovino posted photos of the devices and announced that all those involved were arrested and now face felony charges.
Bovino was also the person behind an immigration raid in Kern County in January, where more than 65 Border Patrol agents arrived in Kern County.
As initially reported by CalMatters, Bovino said that his agents had a “predetermined list of targets,” many of whom had criminal records, before they set off for Kern County.
The operation was, as officials described it, a "highly targeted" raid on immigrants with criminal and deportation records, something that the investigative story by CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos, in partnership with Evident and Bellingcat, proved to be untrue.
The investigation found that Border Patrol officials unlawfully targeted and detained people and that agents had no prior knowledge of criminal or immigration history for 77 of the 78 people arrested.
In actuality, the immigration raid, which took place in the predominantly Latino community, targeted common people who were Brown or appeared to be farm laborers rather than specific targets who were alleged to have a criminal record, immigration history or previous deportations.
The pictures released on Tuesday by Bovino, in which he announced the arrests, show what appear to be handmade rubber strips with large nails.
One of the photos shows the tool embedded in a vehicle tire.
The names of the people arrested were not released.
Additional reporting by City News Service
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