DHS Secretary Kristi Noem attends ICE raid at Los Angeles County home
Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include the intended target of the raid.
HUNTINGTON PARK, Calif. (KTLA) - U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem joined federal immigration agents Thursday on a raid targeting a man with a criminal record at a Huntington Park, California, home, the agency said.
The raid occurred Thursday morning when about a half-dozen vehicles carrying heavily armed, masked U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents converged on a home owned by a 28-year-old pregnant mother of four.
Sabrina Medina said she was in the shower around 6 a.m. when her brother-in-law first saw the menacing presence in front of the family’s home.
“I was just terrified, I’m not going to lie to you,” Medina told KTLA’s Rick Chambers. “I was shaking. I was scared. I’ve never gone through anything like this.”
Medina said she looked out the window and saw 10 men dressed in tactical military gear, all carrying rifles.
“I was like, ‘Am I dreaming or is this real?’” she said.
According to Medina, who is a U.S. citizen, the agents told her to exit her home with her children. Standing in the driveway, they showed her a warrant for her husband, listing his name as David Garcia.
As she explained that her husband’s name is Jorge and that he was not at the house, one of the agents was captured on an outdoor home surveillance camera turning the device away from what was transpiring.
Cameras inside the home captured the heavily armed ICE agents going through the residence room by room, all while Noem, wearing a bulletproof vest and ballcap, watched from the street.
DHS later posted on X that the target of the raid was “an illegal alien from Mexico who had previously been deported. His criminal history includes drug trafficking and assault.”
After hearing about the raid, L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn went to the Huntington Park neighborhood and spoke with some of Medina’s neighbors.
“I’m very disappointed in this government right now and what they’re doing,” she told KTLA.
Four months pregnant with her fifth child, the Huntington Park mother said if her husband is deported, the family’s future is bleak.
“I’m not going to be able to pay my rent when I have to pay it,” she explained. “My husband is not here. I don’t know if they’re going to pick him up tomorrow, the day after tomorrow. It’s sad.”
ICE agents, along with Noem, eventually left the home empty-handed, and the children were allowed back inside.
For now, the family is unsure what the coming days will bring, but Medina said if her husband is deported, she and her children will likely follow him back to Mexico.