Immigration Officers Get Into Standoff With Hostile Onlookers In Clairemont

SAN DIEGO, CA — A dispute erupted Wednesday between masked federal agents conducting immigration enforcement and a group of onlookers in Clairemont, prompting San Diego Police Department officers to intervene to ensure that the situation remained peaceful, an SDPD spokesman said.

The Homeland Security Investigations personnel made a 911 call at about noon to report feeling threatened by a small but hostile crowd in the 7900 block of Linda Vista Road, San Diego police Officer Colin Steinbroner said.

SDPD personnel positioned themselves between the onlookers and the immigration agents -- who were wearing face coverings and clothing bearing the letters HSI -- and set up barricade tape separating the two factions, each of which comprised about 10 people, Steinbroner said.

Within less than an hour, the federal personnel completed what they were doing and left, and the city police officers did the same without making any arrests, according to Steinbroner. No violence occurred over that time span, he said.

It was unclear why the HSI agents were in the neighborhood just west of the Interstate 805-state Route 163 interchange or if they took anyone into custody while they were there.

— City News Service