California: officials investigate after second shooting by ICE agents in a week | US immigration
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were involved in a shooting in Southern California on Thursday, prompting a federal investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that ICE officers stopped a vehicle in Ontario and were approached by another driver who was not the target. Police ordered the driver to leave the area, according to the statement.
“As the driver began to drive away, the car stopped and reversed directly into the officers without stopping, attempting to run them over,” Tricia McLaughlin, DHS deputy press secretary, said in a statement.
“Fearing for his life, a firefighter opened fire on the vehicle in defense. The person fled the scene and abandoned his vehicle.”
The attack was the second similar incident in Los Angeles in recent weeks. Last week, federal agents shot a Los Angeles man who was livestreaming U.S. immigration enforcement operations on social media.
Authorities said at the time that Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a TikTok creator with a large following, tried to ram federal agents’ vehicles after the agents surrounded him and pinned him against his car. As the officers shot him in the elbow, a ricocheted bullet struck a U.S. deputy marshal in the hand.
On Wednesday, an ICE officer in Phoenix shot at a vehicle that authorities were trying to stop. The driver began to drive away and authorities said the officer was in the vehicle’s path. ABC 15 reported.
The shootings come as the Trump administration seeks to significantly expand deportation operations across the United States. The government is reportedly trying to overhaul ICE leadership to increase the pace of removals.
Meanwhile, conditions in ICE facilities are also troubling. The Guardian reported this week that US immigration officials are increasingly holding people in small, secretive facilities for days and, in some cases, weeks; This was a violation of federal policy. At least 16 people died in ICE facilities between January and September.
Deportation operations have disrupted communities across the United States, especially in Southern California, where fear of raids and deportation has left residents uneasy and, in some cases, afraid to leave their homes.
The homeland security department said in a statement that Thursday’s shooting “is yet another example of the threats our ICE officers face every day as they risk their lives to enforce the law and apprehend criminals.”
“ICE officers are now facing a 1,000% increase in attacks against them, including the use of cars as weapons, and death threats against our agents have increased by 8,000%,” McLaughlin said. “Let me be clear: Anyone who assaults, obstructs, obstructs, or threatens the lives of federal officers will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
