Immigration agents appear to urinate in public at a California school

Los Angeles: The line of SUVs and vans streamed through an open gate, many unmarked, but two had US Customs and Border Protection logos. It was the staff parking lot at the back of Ruben Salazar High School in Pico Rivera, a city in Southern California where more than 90 per cent of residents are Latino.

The sight of federal agents alone was alarming on the morning of June 17, a Tuesday, less than two weeks after the Trump administration sent the National Guard to the Los Angeles region to protect federal officials who had ramped up their raids targeting immigrants lacking legal status.

Then, the agents, some wearing fatigues, emerged from the vehicles. At least eight of them ducked behind storage containers on campus, some peering over their shoulders. In the shadows, one at a time, the men appeared to relieve themselves, based on footage captured by overhead security cameras.

Officials at the El Rancho Unified School District, which serves more than 7,000 students southeast of downtown Los Angeles, demanded an investigation into those federal officers. They said the agents were not allowed to be on school grounds, let alone use the blacktop and walls of storage containers as impromptu urinals.

The incident was the latest example of how Southern California residents and local leaders have kept close watch on the federal immigration officers who have stepped up raids targeting immigrants lacking legal status in the region. The episode at Salazar High School was one of the first times this year that a public agency has circulated its own video of federal agents and used the footage to call out their behavior.

The ongoing sweeps of street vendors, day laborers and other workers in the region have had a chilling effect on Latino communities in the Los Angeles area, prompting many people to stay home from work and cancel public gatherings. Activists and bystanders, in turn, have used their phones to film the raids and then have shared the footage broadly on social media.

Given the tensions and the type of work the agents do, what might have been dismissed as indecent behavior has turned into a sharp political dispute with a full public airing.

Public urination is illegal in Los Angeles County and could be considered a public nuisance under state law. But school district officials said in a statement that what occurred June 17 also raised questions about whether the agents violated California law by exposing themselves in public and potentially to minors.

While Salazar High School was not in session, an adjacent elementary school was holding classes that day, and a city park is nearby. Some of the agents appeared to urinate next to a blacktop playground for a preschool that serves the high school.

"Any reasonable person, of any profession, entering Salazar where the ICE agents were urinating would clearly recognize the surroundings to be those of a school where minors are taught," the district said in its statement. School officials did not respond to a request for further comment.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that it was investigating the matter. The Customs and Border Protection and ICE agencies referred questions to Homeland Security.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said that it was aware of the video of the agents, but that it had not received an official complaint. The department had not been asked to take a crime report.

District officials on Wednesday sent a letter to Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, and to Todd Lyons, the head of ICE. In the letter, the district called for an investigation and asked for the names and badge numbers of any officer or agent who was on school property when the video was captured.

"These actions raise alarming and pressing questions regarding ICE's behavior and judgment, as well as concerns about the rights and well-being of those involved, including the ERUSD community," district officials wrote. "This behavior has no room in a K-12 educational setting.

El Rancho Unified School District, which has an enrollment that is more than 97% Latino, reaffirmed in January that it was a "safe haven" that adhered to state policies ensuring students would be served regardless of their immigration status. The district also follows state guidance, which does not allow officers into a nonpublic area of a school without permission.

It was unclear whether immigration agents were targeting anyone in the area or simply there for a bathroom break.

There have been numerous reports of federal immigration raids over the past four weeks in Pico Rivera, a city of about 60,000 people. Pico Rivera is part of a region in southeast Los Angeles known as the Gateway Cities, home to a predominantly Latino and working-class population.

Steven Carmona, the city manager of Pico Rivera, said that there had been multiple instances of immigration agents detaining people in his city in the past two weeks, including a U.S. citizen.

"It's very disturbing what's happening, on a number of different fronts," Carmona said. "People are scared to come out. People are scared to shop."

He said the agents could have chosen from plenty of public facilities instead of relieving themselves on school property.

"This is an insult," Carmona said, "to every resident who calls our city home."

Janice Hahn, a Los Angeles County supervisor whose district includes Pico Rivera, said in a statement that she was joining the school district in calling for an investigation.

"They've spent weeks violently ambushing people," Hahn wrote on social media. "Now ICE & CBP agents are entering school campuses, pulling down their pants, and urinating on playgrounds. It's a slap in the face to our communities -- especially to our children."