El Monte activist alleges ICE officers broke her car window, pointed weapons at her

An El Monte resident, U.S. citizen and community organizer alleges she was intimidated by immigration officers in an encounter she livestreamed on her Instagram account.

Maria Santay was driving Friday, Jan. 30, along Valley Boulevard in El Monte, keeping a watch for Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, when she had what she called an “alarming, traumatic” encounter with them. Santay and supporters said she was peacefully alerting local vendors to the enforcement activity when it occurred.

According to the video and news reports, Santay was approached by ICE officers, who she said were following her car. She drove toward the El Monte police station and began the livestream, when masked officers surrounded her car, boxed her in, drew their weapons and demanded she get out of the car before they broke through the window with a hammer and arrested her. The video also shows El Monte police later in the encounter and the video shows they did not get involved.

It happened by the Chevron station parking lot at Peck Road and Valley Boulevard around 2 p.m., Santay said.

“They’re slowly following me. They’re wasting their tax dollars on me … trying to intimidate me,” Santay tells the camera. “They’re drawing their guns on me.”

Through tears, she also says in the video, while trembling: “This is unbelievable. I’m a U.S. citizen. This is insane. They’re going to try to arrest me … Lord, please protect me. I don’t trust them.”

Multiple requests for comment from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which manages ICE and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, were not returned Sunday, Feb. 1, or Monday, Feb. 2. Jason Givens, a spokesperson with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, confirmed via email receiving a request for comment, but as of Monday evening had not provided a response.

Santay, who could not be reached Monday, Feb. 2, told ABC7 that she feared for her life.

“I thought, this was it. These are my last moments.”

“They threw me in their car, we got on the 10 Freeway, they took me all the way on a joy ride … and then they get off on an exit,” she said.

Santay was released later that day. The charges against her, according to news reports, include resisting arrest.

“That was unnecessary — I feel unsafe. He should have never, ever, ever pointed a gun at me,” Santay told L.A. Taco. “Because there’s no force. I am harmless, I am 125 pounds.”

A GoFundMe account — which over the weekend had already been fully funded and raised nearly $10,000 as of Monday — was set up by Santay’s friends and fellow organizers to help cover her car damages, legal fees, emotional distress and lost income.

Two days before the incident, Santay told the news media that she had been stopped by ICE officers while driving on the 10 Freeway and they told her it was “her first warning.”

“Turns out they weren’t stopping me; they were just intimidating me,” she later said.

On the GoFundMe page, organizers wrote that Santay was “peacefully observing and alerting local vendors and community members to immigration enforcement activity — an act that is legal and protected.”

“Witnesses report that El Monte Police Department was present and failed to intervene,” the GoFundMe account alleges.

“Maria was not committing a crime. She was exercising her rights and standing up for her community … no one should be targeted, threatened, or detained for protecting their community — especially not a U.S. citizen exercising their rights.”

In a Jan. 30 statement, the El Monte Police Department said it was responding to a request for assistance from Customs and Border Protection. Its officers arrived to “engage in conversation and de-escalation efforts,” the statement said, but they did not take part in the federal operation.

California Senate Bill 54 (SB 54) restricts local police involvement in federal enforcement activities, El Monte police said.

El Monte police only sought to ensure safety and order and are “committed to creating a safe environment for all residents, regardless of their immigration status.”

El Monte Mayor Jessica Ancona posted a statement on social media  saying that “what happened to Maria Santay caused real fear in our community — and our residents deserve answers, accountability and humanity.”

She called out fellow city councilmembers for “remaining silent while the community is hurting,” and encouraged El Monte residents to demand transparency, accountability and leadership.

“Even when local law enforcement is not participating in a federal operation, more can and must be done,” Ancona said. “… I stand with Maria Santay and with every resident who was shaken by what occurred. This incident caused real fear in our community, and we must take responsibility for learning from it.”

The now-viral video mostly sparked outrage online.

“What’s scary and sad is you can’t even fight back or try to get away without risking getting shot. Genuinely what are you supposed to do here,” another, @okneesuh, wrote.

Another user, @mysecretgarden13, commented, “If she’s scared, why harass them?”

Stephanie Berenice wrote on Instagram, “This is how intimidation works. Not just handcuffs, but fear. Not just arrests, but trauma. And still, Maria showed courage … it saved people. And it does not go unnoticed.”

Santay posted on Instagram on Sunday, Feb. 1, that she was continuing to patrol the streets to help community vendors and was grateful for the money raised and for those who support her.

She also said she will use the money to help “buy out at least one” detained street vendor and emphasized the trauma she’d feel driving around El Monte.

“It’s also the trauma of what’s happened to my people… the people we should be protecting …” she said Sunday on an Instagram Live. “I was being targeted for existing. I’m not just going to stand up for our people… our flower vendors, our pupuserías … but also for the community trying to speak up.”

On Monday, Feb. 2, Santay said on Instagram Live that a local business will fix her front windows and that the city of El Monte has been supportive.

The San Gabriel Valley city is comprised of more than 65% Latinos and nearly 30% Asians, as of the latest U.S. Census estimates.

“No matter what their status, I don’t want this to happen to anyone,” Santay said Monday. “People are starting to make noise — they’re starting to realize.”