Welcome to Trump’s America. Sunday, more than 30 cars filled with armed deputies accompanied by an armored vehicle with a battering ram loudly roared through a typical Phoenix neighborhood to arrest one undocumented man. All of it was captured on video by Marco Garcia, the son of the man who was arrested, Alfonso Garcia Vega, 62, and posted at The Arizona Republic website.
As the battering ram lowers there is a sudden flash and explosion in front of the home followed by the voice of an officer over a police loudspeaker who says, “This is the police with a warrant. Exit the residence immediately with your hands empty and above your head.” A second flash and explosion can be heard as the officer speaks.
Immigrant rights activist Natally Cruz, who also recorded part of the standoff, said it was like ICE was looking for El Chapo, the vicious cartel leader, rather than an elderly man with no criminal record who’s lived in the U.S. 40 years and has four kids, all citizens. Garcia Vega was deported twice but returned to escape drug cartels that said they’d kill him if he didn’t join.
No doubt Musk’s DOGE goons will report this waste of taxpayer dollars and shut down ICE. Not likely. Similar to the C-17 planes being used to deport a few dozen immigrants, which cost five times a regular flight, this BS is about image. Marco Garcia said the sirens, stun grenades, and overboard show of force were meant to terrorize residents.
"They were really loud. They scared everybody. We thought they were gunshots," Garcia said. "They drew their guns. They pointed their guns towards my wife, my mother and my father and on the speaker they told my father to come out, that they had a warrant. They had shields, they were dressed like they were military.
ICE agents said they had a warrant when they did not. They also appear to have arrested the wrong Alfonso! Doesn’t matter, ICE recorded the arrest to use for their own propaganda on FOX and elsewhere, and according to Marco Garcia, “They are making him look like he’s a terrorist, a drug dealer, a criminal when in fact my dad is just a 62-year-old man just trying to be with his family.”
Two large and loud protests by immigrant rights groups occurred today in Phoenix: one briefly closed Central Avenue in downtown near the ICE facility, while another filled the area around the State Capitol. Not a moment too soon!