A 37-year-old U.S. citizen, Job Garcia, was detained after filming federal agents conducting an enforcement operation at Home Depot on a Thursday afternoon.
Garcia’s footage documents a troubling exchange between the agents, where they celebrated the number of immigrants they arrested that day.
At one point, one agent asked, “How many bodies did you guys grab today?” to which another agent responded, “Oh, we grabbed 31.”
“That was a good day today,” the first agent replied, prompting high-fives between them as Garcia, restrained under the blazing sun, listened in disbelief.
After spending more than an hour in a detention facility near Dodger Stadium, Garcia was released the following Friday, although no criminal charges had been filed against him.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) officials stated that several individuals, including U.S. citizens like Garcia, were arrested for allegedly interfering with the work of federal agents.
When asked about the rationale behind Garcia’s arrest, a spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles directed inquiries to the DHS.
However, neither DHS nor U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided an official statement on the matter.
Garcia expressed his shock and anger at how the detained individuals were dehumanized.
“They call them ‘bodies,’ they reduce them to bodies,” he recounted. “My blood was boiling.”
As a photographer and doctoral student at Claremont Graduate University, Garcia was at Home Depot to pick up a delivery when he overheard someone alerting others about the agents outside.
With phrases like “La migra, La migra,” Garcia felt compelled to record the events unfolding in the parking lot.
He captured the moment when a Border Patrol agent smashed a baton against a box truck’s window, shattering the glass as the occupants inside panicked.
Garcia, who had begun filming the agents, found himself confronted by one.
Initially trying to push the agent’s hand away as he was forcefully handled, Garcia shared that the agent twisted his arm and threw his phone away.
In a chaotic scene, Garcia was taken to the ground by several agents, who shouted aggressive commands.
“Get the f— down, sir!” one agent yelled, while another added, “You want it, you got it, sir, you f— got it. You want to go to jail, fine. You got it.”
Garcia experienced extreme discomfort as he was handcuffed tightly, feeling that his circulation was cut off.
With agents applying pressure to his body, he struggled to breathe.
image source from:latimes