At least two immigration enforcement operations occurred in Van Nuys Tuesday, with multiple being taken into custody at two separate places a mile away from each other.
One of the raids took place at around 10 a.m. at Valley Car Wash on Van Nuys Boulevard as federal agents quickly detained five employees.
“The workers just go away, and all of a sudden, immigration followed the guys,” Juan, the car wash manager, said, adding the officials did not say anything or introduce themselves when arriving at the business.
The car wash was closed for the rest of the day.
Less than a mile away from Valley Car Wash, an unusual scene unfolded in front of a Mexican restaurant near Kester Avenue and Sherman Way as federal agents with their guns drawn surrounded an orange Chevy Camaro at around 10: 45 a.m.
Surveillance video outside captured the agents pulling three people out of the car, detaining the driver and one passenger.
“They broke the window and everything,” said a woman, who was inside the car with her boyfriend and another person. “We just got chased all the way from Northridge, and they came over here and followed us. That’s it. We didn’t want to get out (of the car) because obviously we don’t know who they are. They didn’t want to identify themselves.”
The woman, a U.S. citizen, said the two people the agents detained were in the U.S. legally with green cards.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to the Department of Homeland Security, asking why the car wash and the Camaro were targeted.
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