Seven employees of a Pasadena car wash near Old Pasadena were detained by individuals believed to be U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shortly before noon Friday, according to city spokesperson Lisa Derderian.
One of the men was released shortly after the initial detentions, Derderian told Pasadena Now during an interview she conducted from the business, located at 164 W. Del Mar Blvd., near Old Pasadena. The agents took away the rest of the men.
Derderian confirmed that no Pasadena police officers were present during the incident and none witnessed the activity.
The car wash’s owner and manager were at the scene and appeared “visibly shaken,” Derderian said. Family members of the detained workers gathered at the location, along with nonprofit organizations offering support to the families.
One nearby Pasadena Unified School District reacted to the incident “out of an abundance of caution.”
District spokesperson Hilda Ramirez Horvath said that Blair students were briefly placed in a “shelter-in-place” status due to law enforcement activity in the area.
“There was no activity on or near the school,” Ramirez Horvath said.
Further details about the incident were not immediately available.
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