'They Left The Lawnmower Running.' ICE Agents Swarm Gardeners In SoCal Neighborhood

ONTARIO, CA — Immigration agents working in Inland Empire neighborhoods swarmed gardeners working on yard in Ontario, according to the homeowner.

"They left the lawnmower running right here on the front lawn," Ontario resident Christopher Ames, who lives in the West Fifth Street and North Boulder Avenue area, told KTLA5 News. "They threw my gardeners' phones in their [work truck], along with the car keys, left everything open and just took off."

Family and friends of the gardeners currently do not know the whereabouts of their loved ones, according to the report.

RELATED: Border Patrol Arrests U.S. Citizen, 20, In Dramatic LA County Take-Down, Prompting New Protests

Meanwhile, the Ontario Police Department has confirmed that ICE was working in the area, but no other information was immediately available.

Elsewhere around the Southland, ICE agents have been seen conducting sweeps to detain people at shopping centers and workplaces.

Related: Pregnant U.S. Citizen Detained By Border Patrol In South Bay Gives Birth: Report

Also on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times cited another ICE agent raid at a Hollywood Home Depot, this time at a refuge for immigrant street vendors. According to the Times, "dozens of armed agents, many in masks, converged on the parking lot, blocking gates and surrounding the laborers and vendors."

RELATED: Southland ICE Raids Continue Targeting Workers In LA County

Thursday's raids followed others targeting workers in the San Gabriel Valley this week.

Rep. Judy Chu, who represents the Pasadena area, reported "multiple alarming ICE operations" in her congressional district, "including over the weekend and again [Wednesday] morning."

Chu, who was denied access to detainees at a federal facility said she was there to "demand accountability and transparency, and seek answers regarding her constituents currently being detained, the circumstances of their apprehension, and whether they are being granted due process," she said in a statement.

Rep. Linda Sánchez is also demanding answers from federal officials about several other raids in the area that appear to target workers based on their ethnicity, she said in a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Attorney General.

Sanchez (D-Whittier) said she has been working with the family of a U.S. citizen, a 20-year-old Walmart worker, who was detained by the Border Patrol to locate him and connect him with his parents.

RELATED: Border Patrol Arrests U.S. Citizen, 20, In Dramatic LA County Take-Down, Prompting New Protests

“I am deeply troubled that a U.S. citizen, who supports his family by working at Walmart, and is, by all accounts, an upstanding member of his community, continues to be detained by the federal government,” Congresswoman Sánchez wrote. “Furthermore, upon learning more details of the raid and others occurring throughout Los Angeles, I am deeply concerned that the specific immigration raid that took place at this Walmart seems to be in violation of 42 U.S. Code § 1985, which states that targeting workers on the basis of their race, as well as subsequent use of excessive force, is a blatant violation of their civil rights.”

Earlier in June, agents from what appeared to be multiple law enforcement agencies could be seen escorting men in handcuffs into vehicles outside the Home Depot on Wilshire Boulevard in the Westlake neighborhood, and other areas.

Read the full report on KTLA news.

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• San Diego Elected Officials Denounce Immigration Raid
• 15 Detained By ICE, Including Several Bay Area Children