Santa Rosa Man Confronts ICE Officers On Property Without Explanation
SANTA ROSA (KPIX 5) -- New video showed a Santa Rosa man turning the tables on law enforcement Wednesday morning, demanding to know why ICE officers wearing bullet-proof vests came onto his property twice without explanation.
This conflict comes at a time as tensions with the immigrant community and immigration authorities grow. In the North Bay, the immigrant community makes up a huge percentage of the workforce.
Unmarked cars pulled into the narrow driveway of Jose Reynoso's home before 8 a.m. on Wednesday morning. He and his brother wanted to know why men with bullet proof vests were on his property.
"Is there a reason for you guys to come here?" asked Reynoso in the video.
Reynoso later told KPIX 5 that the officers refused to respond to questions.
"I don't know what was going on here. These officers are trying to come here to our house, unmarked. I tried to talk to them the first time, and they just ignored me. My brother tried to do the same thing, they ignored him," Reynoso said.
The second time that the officers arrived, Jose's brother confronted them. He blocked their exit in an attempt to get them to explain themselves.
The two men never told Reynoso and his brother who they were looking for or why they were looking for them.
Santa Rosa Police said that were notified Wednesday morning that Homeland Security would be in the area. In the video, one of the men mentions U.S. Immigration.
"All American citizens live here. There are no illegal aliens here or anything like that," said Reynoso in the video. "Alright, well that's what we are here to find out," one of the men replied.
Reynoso said that they have plenty of signs warning people to stay off of their property. After the confrontation, Jose's brother finally moved his car and let the men out.
Both of them said they're still in the dark about why the men came in the first place.
"They wouldn't even answer us. They wouldn't talk to us. What's really going on here?" Reynoso asked.
KPIX 5 reached out to ICE to ask why they were at Reynoso's home on Wednesday morning but received no response.