ICE Agents Detain Mother In Front of Her Children in Pasadena

Immigration agents detained a mother of two in front of her children in Pasadena on Saturday morning in an incident that prompted a 911 call about a suspected kidnapping, according to multiple reports.

“On Saturday, June 28, at approximately 7:30 a.m., Pasadena Police (PPD) received a 911 call of suspicious activity at Del Mar Blvd/Catalina Ave. Officers and a Supervisor responded to evaluate the circumstances and discovered it was an ICE operation and PPD verified their identification,”  Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris said in a statement.

“The agents detained one female without incident and PPD did not assist ICE in the apprehension as PPD was solely there for the call for service.”

Witnesses reported that the woman’s name is Rosalina Luna Vargas.

The operation was partially captured on video by witness Jillian Reed, a Caltech alumna, according to KTLA News.

Three plainclothes agents — all wearing federal badges on lanyards and two wearing masks  — attempted to place Vargas into an unmarked vehicle while her children were present, according to Reed and a Reddit witness account.

Reed told KTLA: “[The children] kept asking for a warrant. They told the officers they would stop resisting if they just showed them a warrant. One of the men said he had one but didn’t show it.”

The situation escalated when Vargas broke free and ran into Del Mar Park, an assisted living facility at 990 East Del Mar Boulevard, according to witnesses.

Her children formed what Reed described to KTLA as “a human wall” to protect their mother.

Facility staff reportedly told the agents they were on private property and needed to leave without a warrant, according to witnesses. The agents complied, photographed witnesses, and departed in two separate vehicles before returning later and detaining Vargas.

The Pasadena Fire Department was called to evaluate Vargas, who was treated at the scene and declined transport to a hospital, according to a statement released by City of Pasadena spokesperson Lisa Derderian. The extent of Vargas’s injury was not released.

A family member told KTLA that the warrant was for someone else and that Vargas and her children had simply been “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

The detention occurred amid widespread ICE operations in Southern California. More than 1,600 immigrants had been detained in the region as of June 25, according to Department of Homeland Security data.

In the Los Angeles area alone, there were 722 ICE arrests in the first 10 days of June, with 57% having no criminal history, ABC7 reported.

Prior to Saturday’s operation, at least 14 people in Pasadena were detained during multiple ICE operations, according to Mayor Victor Gordo.

The Pasadena City Council unanimously condemned the federal immigration raids on Monday.

Rep. Judy Chu (D-Pasadena) criticized the operations on social media, saying “ICE agents are pointing guns at innocent individuals, no warrants, no explanations, just fear and intimidation. These raids in my district are absolutely vile. Masked and armed like a militia, they’re terrorizing families and destroying any sense of safety in our communities. This is not law enforcement it’s a gross abuse of power, and I will not stand for it.”