Video circulating on social media shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents waiting outside a home in Hammond.
This sparked a protest on Thompson Drive. Wednesday. Neighbors called for agents to leave their neighbors alone.
“Where is your warrant, where is your warrant?” neighbors chanted in the video.
“This is a small town, 20K people, you would not think ICE would be here,” Leon A. Maryland said.
He told WDSU he was picking up his son Wednesday night when a bunch of police lights drew his attention.
“At first, I thought it was a homicide, it was so many lights.” Maryland said. “So I turned down the street, and I saw people with signs and protesting.”
Maryland said an agent told him they came to the home after a traffic stop.
“They said they were waiting for a warrant, and they said they were there for 12 hours,” Maryland said. “I was like, where are you going to find a judge at this time of night that you couldn’t find 12 hours ago?”
ICE has since identified Ezequiel Lara-Reyes and Maycol Carcamo-Antunez as the two people arrested in the incident. According to ICE’s statement, both were reportedly in the country illegally.
WDSU reached out to the immigration office to learn why they were in this neighborhood and to confirm if they ever got a warrant, but they said they could not disclose anything at this time.
They also referred us to Hammond police.
We reached out to Hammond police, and they sent over this statement:
“Hammond Police Department has and will always support and assist our Local, State, and Federal Partners. The incident you are inquiring about was a federal operation and all questions should be directed to them.”
The immigration office also said they are working to gather information about this incident and would not confirm if it ended with an arrest.
READ MORE:ICE identifies two arrested after protest in Hammond neighborhood
