In broad daylight, surveillance footage purportedly showed Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers urinating on the grounds of a high school in Pico Rivera.
According to the El Rancho Unified School District, the agents were observed peeing in the parking lot of Ruben Salazar High School, which is right next to an elementary school with summer sessions in session and a preschool playground.
The district demanded on Wednesday that the federal government look into the extremely unsettling actions of agents who allegedly trespassed on school property and put themselves in danger of coming into contact with children on June 17.
The district wrote to ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, “These actions raise alarming and pressing questions regarding ICE’s behavior and judgment, as well as concerns about the rights and well-being of those involved, including the ERUSD community.”
The Times’ request for comment was not immediately answered by DHS or ICE.
Pico Rivera’s representative, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, echoed the need for a federal probe in a statement.
“ICE and CBP agents are allegedly entering school campuses, pulling down their pants, and urinating on playgrounds,” she added, adding that it’s not enough that they have been brutally ambushing people for weeks. It’s disrespectful to our community, particularly to our kids.
According to the district, eight to ten designated and unmarked ICE vehicles were seen in the parking area of Salazar High School on the morning of June 17.
After being contacted by district administration, the cops allegedly failed to produce a valid basis for their presence on school property or a judicial warrant. The agents complied with the staff’s orders to depart the area after being told they were not authorized to access the school.
Staff informed the district’s executive administration that they had witnessed the ICE agents urinating in plain sight on campus as soon as they had gone.
Approximately ten agents were seen urinating close to storage bins on the parking lot when the district reviewed video footage taken between 8:54 and 9:04 in the morning. A shortened version of the clip was made available to the public on YouTube by the district.
California
The superintendent of schools in Los Angeles and the school board were furious and promised to safeguard children and their families during graduation ceremonies and schools.
The district noted in the letter to ICE that any reasonable person, regardless of occupation, would have recognized the surroundings as being from a school where youngsters are educated if they had entered Salazar where the ICE officials were peeing.
The district is asking for a prompt inquiry, a report on the results, and the names, titles, and badge numbers of all those who witnessed the incident and those who allowed such illegal activity to occur.
Supt. Marco Villegas and the five El Rancho Unified School District Board of Education members signed the letter. Many elected officials were also copied on the letter, including the ICE offices of professional responsibility and the agency’s chief legal advisor, as well as U.S. Senators Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta.
ICE agents were on school property, but they did not enter any buildings or classrooms, the district assured the school community in a public statement. At this time, it is unknown why the agents are on campus.
