Neighbors and coworkers in Montebello witnessed the moment that roofers jumped across rooftops to evade federal agents on Wednesday.
Video shows the moment two vehicles with federal agents arrive to a home where the roofers were working. Two of the workers then climb onto the roof to evade the agents.
They were both able to escape by jumping across rooftops as a neighbor filmed from across the street.
Juan Armenta, another worker, was with them when the agents arrived while they were taking a lunch break.
“They arrived very quickly. When we saw them, they were too close, and their truck was blocking the way,” Armenta said, adding, “They told us it was an inspection.”
It was just after 11 a.m. on Wednesday when two workers climbed a ladder onto the roof they were repairing, fleeing from the agents.
One worker threw down the ladder and then jumped onto the roof of another house behind him.
The other worker stayed behind, but when he saw an agent put the ladder back up and climb onto the roof, the man also jumped to the neighboring house. Both of them managed to hide, according to one of their colleagues.
“Well, they jumped to the neighbor’s other house and then disappeared into the back, and I don’t know where they went,” Armenta said.
The agents are seen on video inspecting the documentation of the other workers, who claim to have work permits. Then the officers leave.
“We are all afraid, whether we have papers or not, there is always, always the fear that there is no security,” said Felipe López, a construction worker.
Arcelia Barrios, who lives in the house across the street, also witnessed what happened.
“This young man ran up the stairs, and the immigrant was right behind him, and he told the agent to knock down the stairs,” Barrios said, adding, “I’m telling you, they’re causing deaths because the young man could fall, and that’s very bad.”
Our sister station Telemundo 52 contacted the Department of Homeland Security for more information about the incident but has not yet heard back.
On Thursday morning, the office of Montebello Mayor, Georgina Tamayo, told Telemundo 52 in a statement that the presence of immigration agents in several locations in the city on Wednesday had been confirmed.
The statement reads in part: “All residents of Los Angeles County, including those in Montebello—regardless of their immigration status—have guaranteed constitutional rights. For additional information and resources, I encourage residents to visit the Los Angeles County Office of Immigrant Affairs at oia.Lacounty.Gov.”
This Thursday, along with Armenta, other workers have returned to the house to continue working on the roof and say they don’t know where their colleagues who fled from the agents are.
A study by the University of California, Los Angeles, released in November of last year, warns that the raids could have devastating economic effects in states like California, where, according to the report, Latinos represent 16% of the entire workforce.
López says that the company he works for is already feeling the effects of the immigration operations.
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