PASADENA, CALIF. — A Pasadena mother was taken into custody by immigration agents over the weekend in an incident partially caught on video, prompting outrage from witnesses and renewed concerns about immigration enforcement practices in public spaces.
Rosalina Luna Vargas, a mother of two and the primary breadwinner for her family, was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers around 8 a.m. Saturday at the corner of Catalina and Del Mar, according to bystanders. Her children were with her at the time.
Video footage recorded by Jillian Reed, a Caltech alum and local resident, shows three plainclothes individuals — two masked with visible badges — attempting to force Vargas into an unmarked vehicle. A third man, younger and without visible identification, also participated.
“I saw the commotion while driving, and when I slowed down, the kids shouted for help,” Reed said. “They kept asking for a warrant. They told the officers they would stop resisting if they just showed them a warrant. One of the men said he had one but didn’t show it.”
The video cuts off as Vargas’s daughter pleads with Reed to call the police. Reed called 911, believing at the time that she was witnessing a possible kidnapping.
Vargas allegedly broke free and fled into the courtyard of a nearby assisted living facility with her children. Witnesses say the children physically tried to shield their mother as ICE agents pursued them.
“They formed a human wall,” Reed recalled. “One of the kids clung to her, crying, ‘Don’t let go!’”
Staff at the assisted living facility reportedly intervened, reminding the agents they were on private property and could not proceed without a warrant. The agents, according to Reed, photographed everyone present before leaving.
Pasadena police arrived later and took statements. ICE agents reportedly returned and took Vargas into custody.
A family member claimed the warrant ICE cited was for someone else and that Vargas and her children had been “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
ICE has not released details about the arrest, the charges, or the identities of the agents involved.
The incident has fueled debate over ICE’s arrest tactics, particularly operations conducted without clear identification or coordination with local law enforcement. Community advocates say the situation reflects broader concerns about due process and the rights of children during immigration enforcement.
Reed, still shaken, called the incident “horrific.”
“I didn’t know if I was witnessing a hate crime or a kidnapping,” she said. “Even knowing they might have been law enforcement, I wasn’t sure whether to call the police.”
The incident comes amid intensified federal immigration operations across Southern California, sparking backlash and calls for greater transparency and accountability.
