U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers claimed Wednesday afternoon’s raid on a Kings Mountain facility was part of an identity theft investigation.
During the blitz, ICE officials detained employees of Buckeye Fire Equipment.
“There’s a bunch of cops here. And I was like, ‘What are you talking about?’ And I looked down the hall; there was a mass there. They had masks on. They had their guns drawn. They were like, Hey, we need everybody [to] go in the front,” said Erick.
Eric Pinon recorded video and gathered with his coworkers at Buckeye Fire. The footage shows individuals in huge jackets and badges standing behind the workers.
He was able to capture this video before any agents intervened to stop him.
“I was trying to record, and he told me, ‘No recording, put your phone up.’ He grabbed my phone, and like, that’s when he took the record off, and he turned off my phone. He was like, ‘Everybody turn off your phones now. It’s not. You’ll be detained,’ Pinon said.
Pinon, a US citizen, stated that after everyone’s phones were turned off, what seemed to be immigration authorities escorted them to a small room for at least an hour before conducting individual interrogations outside.
“That’s when they were checking all of us. They were asking questions like, “Are you a U.S. citizen? Anybody in there? You a citizen or not? You a citizen?” Or if, like, anybody that’s working without papers or under a different name,” he said.
Pinon declined to answer any questions. Agents distributed blue bracelets to show who possessed lawful citizenship.
Dulce Cruz-Hernandez’s mother works at the workplace and has inquiries of her own.
“I would ask them why and if, like the company called them, or just like how did they end up in this factory specifically?” Cruz-Hernandez explained.
Lindsay Williams, an ICE spokesman, stated that agents were carrying out an arrest warrant for aggravated identity theft and other crimes, including the possibility of unauthorized employment.
“Allegations of identity theft and you should take seriously. Would you want your identities used for someone else to work or do whatever they’re going to do with them? So it’s a serious federal crime,” Williams said. “There have been some folks detained where somewhere in the dozen or so range, but that number may increase as we continue.”
Tents resembling staging areas could be seen from the air, as well as people queuing up outside the large complex on Kings Road.
The FBI, ATF, DEA, CBP, US Marshals, Gaston County Police, and Gaston County Deputies were all on the site.
“It’s really sad because I just don’t know what’s going on with my mother. I don’t know if she’s going to come back home today, never, ever. I really don’t know. My mom’s the only guardian I have really, because my dad’s unfortunately not in the country either,” Cruz-Hernandez said.
Williams stated that the probe is ongoing.
