Heated El Monte City Council meeting is forum for concern over encounter with immigration agents

Protesters descended on an emotional El Monte City Council meeting Wednesday, Feb. 11, venting frustration over the Police Department’s actions — or lack of them, they said — after federal immigration agents arrested a local woman during a January encounter.

Ultimately, Police Chief Jake Fisher said residents should never feel unsafe in the city and pledged to do more to ensure safety for residents amid federal immigrations operations. But he also faced anger from city leaders and some residents, who said local police must “do better” at a time when immigration raids are roiling immigrant communities.

The fiery meeting was the first City Council meeting since El Monte resident Maria Santay, who was driving Jan. 30 along Valley Boulevard in El Monte, keeping a watch for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, had what she called an “alarming, traumatic” encounter with them.

Santay and supporters said she was peacefully alerting local vendors to the enforcement activity.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson, however, said she spent that day “following” agents and “obstructing” them as they carried out immigration operations.

She was stalking law enforcement throughout the day and disobeyed traffic signals, ran red lights and attempted to block agents’ vehicles,” Jason Givens, a spokesperson with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, wrote in a statement at the time.

The agents “contacted local law enforcement twice but they did not respond or assist,” he said.

Border Patrol agents “eventually approached and issued multiple warnings to stop obstructing law enforcement operations. The driver refused to comply, was extracted from the vehicle and was arrested.”

According to the video and news reports, Santay was approached by ICE officers, who she said were following her car. She drove toward the El Monte police station and began a livestream. That’s when masked officers surrounded her car, boxed her in, drew their weapons and demanded she get out of the car before they broke through the window with a hammer and arrested her. The video also shows El Monte police later in the encounter and and it appears they did not get involved.

The incident happened near the Chevron station parking lot at Peck Road and Valley Boulevard around 2 p.m., Santay said on the livestream, frantically describing the encounter.

“They’re slowly following me. They’re wasting their tax dollars on me … trying to intimidate me,” Santay tells the camera. “They’re drawing their guns on me.”

Ultimately, agents arrested her on suspicion of “assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees and conspiracy to impede or injure officer,” and dropped her off at the El Monte Police Department.

Supporters say Santay was peacefully observing and alerting local vendors and community members to immigration enforcement activity — an act that is legal and protected, they add.

But they also decried El Monte police not stepping in to stop the encounter.

In a Jan. 30 statement, the El Monte Police Department said it was responding to a request for assistance from Customs and Border Protection. Its officers arrived to “engage in conversation and de-escalation efforts,” the statement said, but they did not take part in the federal operation.

On Wednesday, Fisher addressed what he said was the “fear and anger and deep hurt that these recent incidents have caused in our community.”

“No one in El Monte should ever feel unsafe or terrified in our city, and my heart truly goes out to everyone who’s been affected,” Fisher added after a chorus of boos from a chamber packed with members of the public. “We do hear you. We see the trauma.  And we’re committed to addressing it.”

He noted that officers arrived quickly, de-escalated the situation, managed traffic backups, acted courteously and maintained public safety.

When officers learned of the pending ICE operation, he said “they removed themselves from the situation, as required by law.”

Police are prohibited from participating in or helping in federal immigration enforcements, he explained.

Fisher said the department is reviewing the incident internally, planning more “police listening sessions” and forums on immigration-related concerns, reviewing incidents in other communities to learn from how law enforcement actions in other areas impact El Monte’s own protocols and policies.

But Mayor Jessica Ancona lamented what she said was the lack of notice about the incident to her office.

“It’s been 12 days since this incident has happened,” she told Fisher during the meeting. “I have not heard from your office or the city manager’s office. I have not received any information on this incident. We must do better. We must do better. In order for me to do my job, I need to be informed in a timely matter.”

She demanded faster communication with all the City Council members in such incidents.

A council ad hoc committee suggested a proposed petition that would request Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform, and supporting local businesses, including “NO ICE” signs for business and private property owners, and the possibility of day laborer programs, to provide a safe place for day laborers to seek work.

But many in the packed chamber saw efforts such as petition drives as falling short. They wanted to see more city protection of citizens amid immigration agents presence.

Santay herself, still reeling from the encounter, spoke during the meeting.

“I’m not here for myself,” she said  during the council’s public comment period. “I was never a target. They can’t deport me. But they are taking away fathers. They are taking away moms.”

Santay added: “I don’t have a title. I don’t care about titles. Leadership is not given. It’s earned. I can’t trust you guys right now. The people that saved me wasn’t you.”

The government’s immigration operations raids have swept through Southern California since June.

Trump administration officials have long said they are fulfilling President Donald Trump’s campaign pledge to mass deport the “worst of the worst” criminals who are in the country illegally.

Without cooperation from so-called sanctuary cities, federal officials argue, agents are forced to take on more aggressive tactics.

Federal officials tout what they say has been an effective operation that has deported tens of thousands of people and stopped illegal immigration.

But in communities large and small, many immigrants, advocates and local leaders, say the raids have spurred fear in communities, and also increased the risk of violent encounters, while the dragnet has picked up mostly people with nonviolent backgrounds.

In January, Pasadena police arrested local immigrant labor leader Jose Madera after he followed an agent, who had dialed 911 on the leader.

The encounter led all the way to the Police Department’s headquarters, where police arrested the man, sparking an outcry against the action, and questions over the extent to which the local police were crossing a line into immigration enforcement, which the city’s own policy prohibits.

Madera was ultimately not charged with any wrongdoing.

Staff writers Ryan Carter and Allyson Vergara contributed to this report.