Norma Torres Accuses ICE Of 'Illegally Detaining People Without Warrants' In California

At a press briefing held by California Democrats on Tuesday, Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA) spoke about ICE raids in California.

Transcript

00:00Norma Torres from Pomona, California. Thank you, Jimmy, and good morning

00:07everyone. Since Friday, ICE has indiscriminately been conducting

00:13violent raids in California and illegally detaining people without

00:19warrants. As reports came out of the Roybal Federal Building, my colleagues

00:26Representative Jimmy Gomez, Lou Correa, Luz Rivas, and I were illegally denied entry

00:34to inspect conditions and to receive a briefing as to the violent encounter

00:40that had occurred the night before. The conditions that we have

00:46been told that these migrants are being held under are nothing more than

00:52inhumane. President Trump's administration is escalating. It is

00:58anti-immigrant agenda in dangerous and unacceptable ways from calls to mass

01:05deportations to the revival of family separation tactics deploying the

01:11military on our streets. These conditions threaten the very fabric of our

01:17community. DHS and ICE are emboldened by this administration. They are operating

01:25outside of constitutional bounds. They are denying congressional oversight using

01:31chemical agents against members of Congress, our staff, and targeting Latino

01:38neighborhoods with impunity. This is no longer about immigration policy. It is

01:46about human dignity and the rule of law. We are witnessing ICE ignoring federal laws

01:55designed to protect families. We are also seeing people going missing, families

02:01being torn apart, and even American citizens being wrongfully detained, caught up in the

02:09racial profiling. I demand accountability from DHS and Trump's political appointees for

02:16their blatant violations and obstruction of Congress. And I do not condone

02:21violence either. And I believe that our local elected officials and the local law

02:28enforcement agencies are more than capable of holding down the line and

02:34bringing back peace. Bringing the National Guard and the Marines only escalates

02:41tensions. Turning our neighborhoods into battlegrounds and militarizing our streets is

02:48not the answer. It's not the answer for California and it's not the answer for any

02:54other state or municipality across the country. As a former 9-1-1 dispatcher, I have

03:01served this city for 17 and a half years. I have heard some of the worst things unfold in my

03:10ears. And yes, I worked through the civil unrest and also I have worked through the

03:20civil unrest. But when the courts finally gave a result on whether the people that the officers were

03:31guilty or not of the Rodney King beating. Those were violent times in the city of Los Angeles. During

03:43that time, the city of Los Angeles did request the National Guard. The National Guard did go to Los

03:52Angeles. They were standing in corners without weapons, in uniform, trying to show support for the

04:02community, show stability and bring and calm down the situation. That is what we need. We don't need

04:11agents unresponsive to federal law and unresponsive to any of the local calls in our communities to be in

04:22in our community creating this chaos that they have started.