ICE and CBP agents were forced to flee from a raid on a roofing job site in the Park Avenue neighborhood of Rochester, New York on Tuesday and left with only one detainee after more than 100 locals descended on the scene and slashed the tires of at least one SUV, WXXI reports.
The Border Patrol were detailed as backup to ICE, who arrested a reportedly legally permitted roofer named Chino on the street or front lawn of the home and then laid an idle siege to the several other men still on the roof. “They already admitted they are here illegally, and I can make a warrantless arrest… We’re waiting for them to come down,” an ICE agent told an immigrant advocate during the four-plus hour long standoff. The crowd continued to grow and began screaming “shame” and “Gestapo,” forcing the eventual capitulation and the escape in an SUV running on flat tires.
Roofing contractor Clayton Baker said Chino has been in the US for about 25 years and had legal documentation to work. “They took my best worker that’s been working with me for 5 years, and just basically, ‘See you later,’ you know? He’s a family guy, and he’s got a baby on the way. He’s never even had a speeding ticket that I know of. He goes to church every Sunday, and he pays his taxes but you want to come get him off of a hard-working job. It’s bullshit, and it’s inhumane and it’s sad.”