KENNER (WVUE) - Sisters Heylin and Merlin Reyes are demanding answers about the whereabouts of their father, Jose, who Border Patrol arrested in front of their home in Kenner, Louisiana.
The arrest occurred Thursday afternoon, Dec. 4, on the second day of Border Patrol's Operation Catahoula Crunch, a large-scale immigration enforcement crackdown underway in the New Orleans metro area.
Heylin was in tears describing how she saw immigration agents pull her father from his car, handcuff him on the ground and place him in the back of an unmarked SUV.
"They didn't even give him a chance to get out the car. As soon as he parked into the driveway, they parked right next to him and they jumped on him," she said.
Heylin said Jose had driven to a nearby bank to withdraw cash when he noticed suspicious, unmarked SUVs parked along Florida Avenue. On his way home, he said he saw even more vehicles and decided to call her. He told her he would be driving toward New Orleans for a while because of suspicious cars and would be back soon.
But Heylin said her father called again, saying the cars were following him and that he was heading home out of fear. She told him to rush home and said the doors were unlocked.
When Jose pulled into the driveway, one of the SUVs parked beside him, and masked men rushed his vehicle to detain him.
Merlin recorded the nearly six-minute incident on her phone from a second-story window while Heylin stood outside, screaming at Border Patrol agents to let their father go.
Witnesses nearby also began recording the scene, including one person who shared video with FOX 8 of her questioning agents about the arrest.
"Do you have a warrant? Do you have a warrant?" the witness is heard saying to a second group of armed, masked Border Patrol agents who arrived shortly after the first SUV.
The witness then approached an agent carrying a rifle and asked whether they had a judicial warrant to arrest Jose.
The agent responded, "I don't have to show you anything. I don't care. I don't want to be interviewed."
Since Wednesday, Border Patrol agents have made arrests in New Orleans, Kenner, LaPlace, Metairie, Gretna and St. Bernard Parish. Most arrests occurred at businesses, public areas or private residences.
The Department of Homeland Security says the focus of Operation Catahoula Crunch is to arrest criminal immigrants who are on the streets due to sanctuary city policies in New Orleans. So far, Border Patrol has released the names of convicted and suspected criminals arrested during the operation, but the agency has not said whether Jose Reyes has a criminal record or why he was arrested.
His family says they have not heard from him since his arrest and are concerned for his safety while he remains in immigration custody.
"He's not a criminal. He's a hardworking man. He's the head of this household. He came to this country looking to benefit his family," Merlin said.
The Reyes family told FOX 8 that Jose is from Honduras and works as a construction worker and landscaper in the New Orleans area. His daughters say he has a work permit and legal status to live in the U.S.
But while the family waits for a response from Border Patrol about his arrest, finding information themselves has proven difficult.
Local immigration attorney Kathleen Gasparian says accessing someone's immigration history typically requires knowing their Alien Number, a unique identifier assigned to a person's immigration case.
The challenge, she says, is that immigrants often don't know their Alien Number and only see it on arrest or detention paperwork.
Gasparian said one workaround is to file a Freedom of Information Act request, or FOIA, though that process often comes with significant delays.
"I could be waiting months and months for those records. I can't just call immigration or call ICE and get copies of documents," she said.
Gasparian added that ICE has an Online Detainee Locator System, which can reveal where a detained immigrant is being held and why.
However, she noted that the system requires precise information from a person's immigration documents, which can be difficult due to variations in customs regarding names.
"Some countries, you may use two or three last names. But if you put all that in differently in the system, you might not find a match," she said.
Gasparian emphasized that transparency from immigration officials should be a priority, especially with families in fear across the metro area.
"Community members can be targeted when all community members are a priority, and which is kind of what we are seeing now," she said.