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Video shows ICE agents detaining man inside Ontario medical office

Video shows ICE agents detaining man inside Ontario medical office
Video shows ICE agents detaining man inside Ontario medical office 02:47

Cellphone video shows the tense moments when a man was detained inside of an Ontario medical office during an immigration enforcement operation.

It happened on Tuesday morning, when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say they had warrants for two undocumented men. They claim that one of the men ran into the Ontario Advanced Surgery Center, prompting them to follow him inside. 

Local immigration rights activists say that following him inside was illegal. 

"There was no warrant out for his arrest. We know that he doesn't have a criminal record, as of now," said Javier Hernandez, with the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. "The concern that we have as well, was this just a targeting because he was working? Was it targeting because he was working in landscaping?"

Hernandez says that staff members from the clinic called his organization's rapid response team as the chaotic scene unfolded inside of their office. 

"For the nurses and staff here, they feel this was very traumatizing for them. Not just seeing what was happening inside, but also just knowing this gentleman was doing his job and they were able to come in and quickly take him away," Hernandez said. 

That man, 30-year-old Dennis Guillen, was working as a landscaper when the agents arrived to serve warrants on Tuesday. Despite claims that the agents didn't identify themselves or their organization, the Department of Homeland Security shared a statement saying that their agents were wearing clearly marked bulletproof vests. 

A statement from DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said that while their agents were chasing Guillen, "hospital staff assaulted law enforcement and drug the officer and illegal alien into the facility. Then, the staff attempted to obstruct the arrest by locking the door, blocking law enforcement vehicles from moving, and even called the cops claiming there was a 'kidnapping.'"

Hernandez says that the staff members were acting on the oath they took to protect people. 

"They were doing their job, they were protecting themselves, they were exercising their rights to ask who these gentlemen were," he said. "They did not impede them from leaving."

He says that Guillen has been in America for the last three years, working as a landscaper so he can send money to support his sick mother in Honduras. Since he was taken into custody, Guillen has only been able to make one phone call to family members, Hernandez said. 

"People are getting abducted," Hernandez said. "We lose them for two, three days, maybe a week or two, and we don't know where they are at. That is not normal and we should be fighting back."

No one that works at the surgery center was taken into custody and Hernandez said it was unclear if any charges would be filed against them. 

CBS News Los Angeles has reached out to the Ontario Advanced Surgery Center for comment on the incident but has not yet heard back. 

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