California Clinic Staff Charged for Interfering with ICE Arrest
Two employees of a California surgical center face federal charges after allegedly obstructing an ICE operation.
Federal authorities have arrested two staff members of the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center in California, facing charges for allegedly interfering with an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrest.
The incident occurred earlier this month involving Honduran national Denis Guillen-Solis, a landscaper, who reportedly fled on foot to avoid law enforcement and entered the surgical center, despite not being a patient there.
U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, Bill Essayli, stated that the individual in question was not affiliated with the medical facility and had run inside seeking shelter.
The U.S. Attorney's office has characterized the actions of the clinic staff as an assault on federal agents attempting to apprehend Guillen-Solis.
Criminal warrants for the clinic staffers, identified as Jose De Jesus Ortega and Danielle Nadine Davila, were authorized by U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Pym.
They face charges of forcibly assaulting and interfering with a federal officer and conspiring to prevent a federal officer from carrying out his duties.
Ortega was arrested on a Friday morning, while Davila was apprehended later that day after being initially considered at large.
According to Davila's LinkedIn profile, she is a certified surgical technologist at the center.
The criminal complaint alleges that she physically obstructed an ICE officer by placing her hands on him and maneuvering herself between the officer and Guillen-Solis during the attempted arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security outlined in a public post that ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation to apprehend two individuals who were identified as illegal aliens.
During this operation, ICE agents allege that Guillen-Solis fled toward the Ontario Advanced Surgical Center, leading to the reported confrontation.
They stated that staff members of the clinic assaulted law enforcement, dragged both the officer and Guillen-Solis into the facility, obstructed the arrest by locking the doors, and misrepresented the situation to local authorities as a ‘kidnapping.’
A video of the incident features one staff member demanding the ICE agent leave as they asserted that the clinic is private property.
Comments captured on video included demands for the agent to remove his hands from Guillen-Solis.
In response to the events, California Democratic Assemblymember Michelle Rodriguez criticized ICE's actions in a statement.
She expressed concern about the effect of ICE enforcement on local communities and condemned the actions of law enforcement as cruel.
Rodriguez emphasized the need for accountability in law enforcement practices, questioning the appropriateness of armed agents engaging in such operations in public spaces.