Narciso Barranco, the 48-year-old Tustin landscaper who was violently arrested by immigration agents last month, made his first public appearance Friday – saying he still has hope in the face of widespread deportation efforts.
The arrest, which sparked national headlines, became a pivotal point locally — pushing scores of residents and activists to demand local elected officials to enact protections and create aid funds.
“To the community, I don’t have the words to truly express what I feel in my heart,” Barranco said in Spanish at a Friday news conference in front of the Old County Courthouse in Downtown Santa Ana.
“So I can just say thank you for standing with my family and my children, for not leaving
them alone,” he said.
Barranco also shared a message for the families of his former cellmates at the Adelanto Detention Center.
“I want to say to their families, they have faith. They miss you deeply, and even in a place like that, hope is still alive,” he said in Spanish Friday.
“To the authorities, I respectfully ask please grant them bond. Don’t take them away. Don’t take away the chance for these families to be reunited.”
Barranco thanked local elected officials and advocacy groups like the OC Rapid Response Network for helping direct legal resources his way.
[Read: ICE Raids Spur Aid Network in Orange County]
At that point someone in the crowd shouted out “Not Mayor (Valerie) Amezcua” – the Santa Ana Mayor who has received sharp criticism for her response to the ICE sweeps and to anti-ICE protests that followed after the raids launched last month.
[Read: Santa Ana Residents Demand Mayor Resign, Citing Weak Response to ICE Raids, Protest]
Deportation Sweeps Raise Legal Questions
Lisa Ramirez, Barranco’s attorney, said the immigration sweeps raise Constitutional questions.
“What we have seen, heard, witnessed and experienced these last 30 days is not only a blatant disregard for our Constitution, but an institutional intentional erosion of these rights and protections,” she said at the Friday news conference.
“What Mr. Barranco Santibanez and his family suffered in his detention and their separation is real and again he is not the only one. There are thousands like Mr. Barranco.”
Ramirez added the system is broken.
“It’s not just the immigration system, but the very system designed to affectionate due process and justice. It is broken. This is not an immigration problem. It is a problem for American citizens,” she said.
Sandra De Anda, director of policy and legal strategy for the OC Rapid Response Network, said they are getting up to three immigration and deportation related calls a minute.
“These agencies and the current immigration system aims to dehumanize and alienate our loved ones, but because Narciso’s family reached out to our hotline we were able to create a powerful legal defense team,” she said at the Friday news conference.
“I’m just here to let the community know there is a very, very experienced defense team by your side.”
Barranco also thanked the press corps for detailing the sweeping ICE raids, which have largely been put on a temporary hold by a federal judge.
[Read: Federal Judge Orders Immigration Agents to Halt Stops Based on Race]
Friday marks the first time Barranco has publicly spoken about his experience since he made national news last month after federal immigration agents punched him in the head while he was face down in the middle of a Santa Ana street – an arrest captured in videos posted to social media.
Barranco Family Thrusted Into the Spotlight
For many in Orange County, Barranco’s violent arrest is emblematic of the deportation sweeps that started last month in Southern California with the arrest of street vendors, car wash employees and day laborers at Home Depots .
There’s also been people arrested at the immigration courthouse in Santa Ana.
Barranco’s violent arrest sparked criticism from many elected officials across OC and late last month a vigil was held for him by the IHOP he was arrested at.
[Read: ICE Raids Spur Aid Network in Orange County]
Another vigil is planned in Fullerton at 7 p.m tonight at Fullerton City Hall to address fears of deportation sweeps through prayer as a host of religious leaders are expected to attend.
Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento said that Barranco’s story contradicts President Donald Trump’s narrative that undocumented immigrants are violent criminals.
“He was thrust into the spotlight because of the injustice he experienced, despite the personal sacrifice he and his family made for our country,” he said at Friday’s news conference.
“Fortunately, the local and national opinion is rapidly changing with respect to immigrants. Many are offended by the illegal manner in which deportations and separations from families are occurring,” Sarmiento said.
Sergio Perez, executive director for the Center of Human Rights and Constitutional Law, said he met Barranco shortly after his arrest.
“What I saw in his eyes that day is what we are seeing increasingly in members of our communities and our families, somebody in crisis, a victim of a growing campaign against the immigrants and refugees who have fought to make this their home,” Perez said at Friday’s news conference.
“What I saw was somebody whose rights and whose personhood had been violated, but who was standing strong, somebody who in his eyes carried love,” Perez said.
On Tuesday, Barranco’s Marine veteran son, Alejandro Barranco, spoke in front of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration.
“My father is a human being but was not treated with the dignity he deserves. He has always made sure to do his best in giving back and supporting this country like we all do. That is who he is – that is who this country punched, threw in detention and is trying to deport,” Alejandro Barranco told the committee.
Echoing what he told Voice of OC last month, Alejandro Barranco said he hopes his father’s arrest helps shed light on how the deportation sweeps impact people.
“I am here today because I want other people who have had family members like my dad taken away to know they’re not alone. Thousands of families like ours are being ripped apart and their stories matter. I want this committee to understand the human impact of the immigration policies,” the Marine veteran told Senators.
Narciso Barranco’s other two sons are currently serving in the Marine Corps.
Local Pressure Against Deportation Sweeps Increases
The same day Alejandro Barranco appeared before the Senate subcommittee, Anaheim City Council members voted unanimously to join a federal lawsuit challenging the current iteration of immigration sweeps in Southern California, becoming the second city in OC looking to join the legal challenge after Santa Ana.
[Read: Anaheim Looks to Join Lawsuit Against ICE Raids]
As part of that lawsuit, a federal judge temporarily blocked the Department of Homeland Security from detaining people in Southern California solely based on their race, language or occupation.
The judge also ordered that detainees be allowed access to legal representation.
Department of Homeland Security officials have denied the allegations.
The temporary restraining order covers the U.S. Central District of California, which includes the counties of Orange County, Los Angeles, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Bernardino and Riverside.
Both Anaheim and Santa Ana have also launched immigrant resource webpages on their city websites as well as started aid funds to help immigrant families impacted by the ICE sweeps pay their bills.
Since Narciso Barranco’s detention, officials in Garden Grove and Costa Mesa have faced community pressure to respond to the ICE sweeps with residents there calling for aid funds for immigrants, ICE notification policies and resources.
In Orange, a majority of city council members dismissed the idea of an online immigrant resource page last month and on Tuesday backed away from approving a resolution asking for federal immigration agents to wear visible IDs and not masks when operating in their city.
[Read: Orange Backs Off Trying to Unmask ICE]
“We’ve all seen the images over and over and over again of Mr. Barranco,” said City Councilwoman Arianna Barrios, who brought forth the resolution with Councilwoman Ana Gutierrez, on Tuesday.
“Every single one of those officers had agents, had masks, and with those masks, no one can be held accountable for those actions.”
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.