Cox, a U.S. citizen, said she heard the agents before she saw them. Without identifying themselves, the agents told everyone to line up against the wall, she said. For about 35 to 40 minutes, Cox said, she was prohibited from leaving.
"I felt like we were being arrested," said Cox, who distributes inventory at the company. "I felt like we had no rights."
Cox said immigration authorities could have handled the arrests in a more diplomatic and less theatrical way.
"I believe in immigration laws. I believe in everyone being documented," she said. "I don't believe in these scare tactics."
Mike Whitehead, also born in the United States, said he was detained for about 45 minutes and had to answer a few questions and show his identification before being let go. The whole experience was scary and intimidating, he said.
"It was degrading. I was born in this country," said Whitehead, a sales representative for Micro Solutions. "It could have been handled completely differently. It could have been handled with dignity."
--
anna.gorman@latimes.com
