Four people were arrested at a raid on a home in Burnsville, Minnesota, including a couple whose 7-year-old son has been left without his parents, family members told NBC affiliate KARE.
A couple was on their way back to a house from the grocery store on Saturday when they were followed by U.S. Immigration and Customs agents, Sofia Alvarado, whose husband owns the house, told KARE. Ring camera footage provided to the station shows the couple pulling into the home’s driveway when agents appear in the frame and detain the man.
The woman runs for the house as the man is surrounded by agents. She was later detained after going inside to hide with her 7-year-old son, KARE reported.
Alvarado explained, through a Spanish translator, that the couple was paying to rent the lower level of their home. She said she was upstairs with her three other relatives when they heard banging on the door.
The family alleges that ICE entered their private residence without presenting a warrant, they told KARE. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the matter Tuesday.
Alvarado’s brother, Angel, told KARE that ICE agents led his sister, mom, daughter and niece into the kitchen and asked for their phones. The four of them were eventually able to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship to the agents, he said.
“They all were scared, crying,” he said, adding that the agents were pointing guns.
In addition to the couple who arrived home from the grocery store, two other men were arrested by agents at the home. One is the father to two children. His wife, who is pregnant, spoke to KARE through an interpreter under the condition of anonymity.
She said she hid with her 7-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son, who was asleep on her shoulder at the time.
“They opened the door for me,” she said. “When I went out, they were pointing their guns at me.”
At six months pregnant, she said she is now caring for her two children and the 7-year-old boy whose parents were arrested in the same raid.
She said that her family is originally from Honduras and entered the U.S. illegally to work. She also said that she was urged by ICE to self-deport.
It’s unclear if all the people inside the home are related to each other.
The City of Burnsville released a statement on Sunday acknowledging that it was “monitoring federal immigration activity.” The city said its officers are not “typically” informed of federal immigration activity and do not engage with enforcement.
“Federal government agents have been present to carry out immigration enforcement operations,” the statement said. “We know this has created fear and uncertainty for many in our community.”
The Burnsville mayor’s office said in a statement Tuesday that public safety teams responded to two calls regarding immigration enforcement activity. One was for traffic control assistance after residents called in to report activity on McAndrews Road.
“The second was from a resident at a multi-family complex,” the statement said. “Our officers responded to the scene and took a report from a resident on federal law enforcement activity that had concluded.”
