Social Media Torches ICE Over Violent Arrest Of Narciso Barranco, Father Of 3 Marines
President Donald Trump might have sold his mass deportation agenda as a crusade to get gang members and other violent criminals out of the country, but data shows that nearly half of those arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) either have no criminal record at all or have only been convicted of minor offenses, including traffic violations. Not only do ICE agents appear to lack discernment when it comes to arresting illegal (and in many instances, legal) immigrants, whether they’re criminals or not, but a recent video indicates that some of them are also pretty indifferent when it comes to how rough the arrest is.
Meet Narciso Barranco.
On Saturday, Barranco was detained by agents who came after him while he was working as a landscaper at an IHOP in Santa Ana, California, according to CNN. Video footage of the arrest, which has since gone viral on social media, shows Barranco, 48, being punched repeatedly while pinned to the ground and surrounded by masked agents.
Barranco’s son, Alejandro Barranco, told CNN that his father has lived in the US since the 90s, and, while he is an undocumented immigrant, he has no criminal record.
“He was always a good dad,” Alejandro said. “He always made sure we had food on the table. He always taught us to respect, to love our country, to always give back.”
Alejandro Barranco is, by the way, a U.S. Marine, as are his father’s other two sons.
Unsurprisingly, when the victim’s violent arrest drew public outrage, he wasn’t identified by Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin as a decades-long U.S. resident who fathered and raised three members of the U.S. Marine Corps. Instead, McLaughlin simply referred to Narciso Barranco as an “illegal alien” who “tried to evade law enforcement.”
“The illegal alien ran, then turned and swung a weed whacker directly at an agent’s face,” McLaughlin told CNN. “He then fled through a busy intersection and raised the weed whacker again at the agent. The illegal alien refused to comply every step of the way—resisting commands, fighting handcuffs, and refusing to identify himself.”
It’s almost as if McLaughlin avoided using Barranco’s name because she didn’t want the public to make the mistake of, you know, humanizing the “illegal alien.”
As far as Barranco allegedly swinging a weed whacker at ICE agents (who were wearing masks for whatever reason), that’s hardly a proven claim.
Source: Social Media Torches ICE Over Violent Arrest Of Narciso Barranco, Father Of 3 Marines
This post originally appeared on the New York Beacon.
