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White Center neighbors shaken up after possible ICE arrest outside pawn shop

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has not confirmed whether the masked people wearing vests in the video are authorized officials.

WHITE CENTER, Wash. — People thought they were watching Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents make an arrest Saturday in White Center, but with the agents wearing face masks and no ICE markings on their vests, the arrest details remain unclear.

A social media video surfaced over the Fourth of July weekend that appears to show what seemed like an ICE arrest outside of Cash America Pawn in the unincorporated area of King County.

A woman was crying and yelling in Spanish at people in face masks and vests. Some of the vests said "police" but not "ICE" or "DHS" for the Department of Homeland Security.

No laws are preventing federal immigration agents from covering their faces.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi defended face masks in a June 25 Senate committee hearing, saying it was the "first time" she had heard of agents covering their faces. She defended the face coverings because she said the agents were threatened. 

"I can assure you that if they're covering their faces, it's to protect themselves," Bondi said. 

Federal rules do require immigration officers to identify themselves as someone who is authorized to execute an arrest. 

It's unclear from the White Center video whether that happened. The video showed a woman being put inside the back seat of an unmarked, white SUV. 

It's this kind of action, happening without people knowing exactly who is showing up and taking someone away, that's heightening the level of fear. 

"They whipped in, all I heard was the tires screeching," Naomi Bailey said. 

Bailey is the manager of a coffee stall across the parking lot from Cash America Pawn. She and a customer ran on Saturday toward the noise.

"It's terrible because we can't do anything without them trying to do something," Bailey said. "I mean I almost got arrested with them just yelling at them. They were yelling at me, to back up, my customer backed all the way up, he was yelling at them."

The video showed the agents pull away from the parking lot after they put the woman inside the car.

Octavio Rivera said his friend shot the video and sent it to him. 

"My friend told me she sells food, she kind of goes around, promotes herself, and sells food," Rivera said, referring to the woman who was put inside the SUV.

Rivera, whose mother is well known for running a hair salon in White Center, said the video has sparked a heavy conversation for his family.

"My mom pulled us aside and we had a talk," Rivera said. "About in case she gets deported, who she is going to leave everything with. It was definitely a serious talk. It sucks that we have to go through that."

We have reached out to the spokesperson for ICE for comment, but have not received a response regarding this incident.

Attorney General Nick Brown's office said in a statement that they don't have any information to share about this specific incident but they do "hear regularly from Washingtonians who are concerned about ICE's increasingly alarming conduct and lack of accountability." 

Their statement further reads:

"Washingtonians may contact the AGO’s Civil Rights Division at civilrights@atg.wa.gov if they have concerns about federal activity in their communities. Members of the public may also report confirmed immigration enforcement activity in Washington state to 1-844-724-3737, a hotline run by the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network."

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