EDS. UPDATE: Following the publication of this article, community activists Ernest Ayala, 43, Jude Allard, 28, Sadot Jarnica, 54, and Daniel Montenegro, 30, have been released with no charges.
Union del Barrio, with attorneys including the National Lawyers Guild, is calling for the release of Northeast Valley residents Ernesto Ayala and Jude Allard, who were arrested during an immigration raid at the Home Depot on Balboa Boulevard in Van Nuys on Tuesday.
Ayala was working as an outreach coordinator at the Day Laborers Center, located in the Home Depot parking lot, while Allard was working as a volunteer. A spokesperson for the Day Laborers Center said they are set up to assist workers to safely find jobs, but have been targeted and harassed by federal agents over the subsequent days. Armed agents reportedly made an additional unspecified number of arrests in front of the store.
According to United States Border Patrol Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino, four people were arrested for impeding and obstructing their efforts by “using improvised spike strip devices aimed at disabling our vehicles.”
Bovino posted photos of what appeared to be either metal or rubber strips with protruding large nails. One photo shows the crude-looking device embedded in a vehicle tire.
Ayala, 43, Allard, 28, Sadot Jarnica, 54, and Daniel Montenegro, 30, are facing felony charges, Bovino said. Details about all four of the suspects have yet to be released.
They were reportedly in possession of a tote bag with a Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Los Angeles (CHIRLA) logo on it that had more spikes in it. There is no confirmed connection at this time between CHIRLA, the immigrant rights organizations and those arrested.
Ayala is well known in the Northeast San Fernando Valley community, with a longtime family history of Chicano activism. His father, Genaro Ayala, was an early member of the historic LA Raza Unida Party and Ernesto Ayala is the national chairman of the same alternative political party today. A GoFundMe page has been set up for his bail and legal expenses. The page gives no mention of the felony charges he faces but says he was detained while “observing and documenting ICE actions.”
Ernesto Ayala was a recent organizer of a large protest march against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids that traveled from the community of Panorama City and ended in front of Van Nuys City Hall. The march was praised for its coordination with police and its serious yet peaceful nature on the hot day that included an ice cream truck that rolled alongside the marchers with Aztec drums and dancers that kept the beat of the protest chants and ended with a brief rally and line dancing.
“It is no surprise that it has come to this,” said one San Fernando Valley resident who asked for anonymity.
“ICE, and the Border Patrol, and others who refuse to identify themselves come to our community wearing face masks, violently tackle and slam our people to the ground, unnecessarily injuring them and kidnap them without consequences and then expect no reaction?”
Attorneys representing them said they were denied access to them on the day of their arrest.
City News Service contributed to this article.
Great job, ICE.
Great job ICE by apprehending the people who interfere with your operations.