Two people, both males, were detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement around noon on New Year’s Day at the Emerald Heights Apartment complex in Astoria, according local law enforcement and an eye witness.
“It was 11:28,” said the person who witnessed the event and asked that their name not be used in fear of retribution. They had just returned their daughter’s friend to her apartment after a sleepover. They said they were driving away as several vehicles with flashing lights zoomed around their car.
“Several cars went behind me and stopped in the middle of the road,” they said. “I kind of knew it was ICE. I got out and took video of the arrests. They had masks on and were wearing vests.”
The vests identified the officers with the words “Police” and “ICE.”
“They were driving a light gray Chevy sedan and a gray SUV,” they said. “One had Idaho license plates.”
It happened in a matter of minutes and it was a frightening scenario.
“For me to see this up close, it was very emotional,” they said “I’m concerned about human rights and I’m concerned about our democracy. If they can detain these folks, they could detain any one. So it was very scary.”
They said it was also scary because the officers there were complete strangers. “I’m very familiar with local law enforcement — and I didn’t see them. There was no local law enforcement present. For all I know, (the men in vests and masks) could be kidnappers.”
Astoria Police Chief Stacey Kelly confirmed that ICE had contacted the police department prior to the detainments.
“They did call dispatch and said they were in the county,” Kelly said. “They made the call an hour or two before they were up in Emerald Heights. But they didn’t notify us before, during or after the event.”
Kelly said he heard about where the detainments had taken place like many others — through a Facebook video post.
The eye witness who spoke to The Astorian said they had posted the video but then took it down because it showed the faces of the two detainees and they didn’t want to target them.
It was a haunting scene that seemed to come out of nowhere. On the drive over, they said they had just asked her daughter’s friend about living at Emerald Heights. “I asked her, ‘do you enjoy the community there?’ She had said there were many people who were living in fear and afraid to come out of their homes. … We had just been talking about being fearful of ICE.
“It all happened so fast. … I don’t know their immigration status, but they weren’t doing anything wrong today.”
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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