U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided an industrial paint business in El Cajon suspected of hiring workers without legal status Thursday afternoon, according to a federal warrant.
The raid happened around 1:15 p.m. at San Diego Powder & Protective Coatings on Magnolia Avenue.
Shawn Gibson, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agent in charge of San Diego, said agents arrested fewer than 20 people while executing a criminal search warrant.
The business was under investigation for “harboring aliens,” “pattern or practice of employing aliens,” and “fraudulent use of visas or other documents,” according to the warrant.
Investigators alleged the business knowingly hired people without legal status.
Gibson declined to say exactly how many people were arrested and on what charges. He noted there was a combination of administrative arrests and criminal arrests.
Administrative arrests, Gibson said, were for people in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, not necessarily any violent criminal offenses.
Workers told KPBS that dozens of ICE and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents handcuffed more than 50 employees and forced them to stand outside in the sun while they verified everyone’s immigration status.
“Some of us asked for water, they said ‘no,’” said Christian Rojas, a truck driver.
Agents used computers, fingerprint scanners and facial recognition cameras to verify each person’s legal status, according to multiple workers who declined to give their names to KPBS.
U.S. citizens, like Rojas, were allowed to leave the building.
Still, he lingered, waiting to see what would happen to his coworkers.
“You spend most of your day with these people here at work,” he said. “They become like family.”
While federal agents, including some from the DEA, conducted their investigation, friends and relatives of the detained workers started to arrive. Some of them were visibly shaking and crying.
Among them was Blanca Corona, whose husband was detained. She held back tears during an interview.
“I’m freaking out on the inside, but I have to stay positive, we have four kids,” she said.
Corona and their four children are all U.S. citizens, she said. The family has an immigration lawyer and was in the process of adjusting her husband’s status.
Apart from being a youth soccer coach, Corona’s husband is also the family’s primary earner. She’s worried about the family’s financial stability.
“It’s going to be hard,” she said. “I work, too. But even with both incomes, we barely make it.”
