[WARNING: Video might be disturbing to watch]
Horrifying scene in National City (near San Diego) where Border Patrol agents stop a family in the middle of the street, forcibly take the mother of these girls, shove her into a patrol vehicle, then drive away. (1 of 2 videos)… pic.twitter.com/iDvFlFFGun
— ⚡️ Luis Gomez (@RunGomez) March 8, 2018
A video of Customs and Border Patrol (“CBP”) agents ripping a mother away from her daughters is swiftly making its way across social media.
Originally posted to Facebook by someone claiming to be the teacher of the three minor girls in the video, the incident was then highlighted by San Diego Union-Tribune editor and writer Luis Gomez.
In a tweet sent at 1:25 p.m. on Thursday, Gomez noted:
Horrifying scene in National City (near San Diego) where Border Patrol agents stop a family in the middle of the street, forcibly take the mother of these girls, shove her into a patrol vehicle, then drive away.
In the video, the mother, Perla Morales-Luna, is forcibly taken into custody by multiple CBP agents and then quickly thrown into a waiting government van. Cross-talk, screaming and crying obscure most of the conversations occurring as the camera records Morales-Luna’s capture.
A later tweet by Gomez contained an additional angle and video of the law enforcement action, noting the original Facebook source.
[WARNING: Disturbing video]
Another camera records the same incident but from a different angle. I’m trying to track down more information on these two videos. They were posted by someone on Facebook claiming to be a teacher of these girls. (2 of 2 videos) pic.twitter.com/mE5uvsC0jG
— ⚡️ Luis Gomez (@RunGomez) March 8, 2018
Though the controversial video only began to gain significant traction late this week, the incident itself apparently occurred on March 3.
Since then, the videos have been shared in excess of 12,000 times on Twitter alone.
After those videos began to obtain a certain level of virality, CBP San Diego released a statement which reads, in part:
Perla Morales-Luna was identified as a human smuggling facilitator who recruited drivers to transport [undocumented immigrants] from a remote border area in Eastern San Diego County to a stash house in National City as part of a larger transnational criminal organization…During the arrest on March 3, 2018, Ms. Morales-Luna refused to comply with the agents’ commands and physically resisted while attempting to abscond into a nearby vehicle.
The press release continued, noting, “Ms. Morales-Luna was the only subject of this operation. Therefore, once she was in custody, agents immediately departed the area. The arresting agents ensured that Ms. Morales-Luna was able to arrange for her sister to take custody of her three children.”
As of now, Morales-Luna is currently awaiting the decision of an immigration judge, who will issue a final ruling on her removal case already in progress, according to the CBP.
[image via screengrab]
Follow Colin Kalmbacher on Twitter: @colinkalmbacher
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