Around 100 people protested arrests by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement on Monday, Dec. 8 in downtown Vancouver. The protest focused on Jose Paniagua Calderon, who was arrested by ICE in the city on Dec. 4.
Erik Neumann / OPB
Just over a hundred people chanted and held signs outside Vancouver city hall on Monday to condemn the detainment of Jose Paniagua Calderon by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE officers arrested the Vancouver man Dec. 4. According to his family, the officers fractured Paniagua Calderon’s foot by driving over it during the arrest.
Cellphone video of the incident shows ICE vehicles surrounding Paniagua Calderon at the time of his arrest on Fourth Plain Boulevard, an area known as Vancouver’s international district. The video appears to show an SUV lurch over one of the man’s feet while he lies on the ground screaming.
“He was there on Dec. 4, and they barely gave him his medication yesterday,” said his sister-in-law, Carmen Paniagua, at Monday’s protest. “But it’s not helping with the pain; it only makes him sleepy.”
Carmen translated a video call during the rainy protest from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, where Paniagua Calderon is currently being held.
“It gives him strength to know that he’s getting a lot of support and all his family is supporting him,” Carmen said, speaking for the 27-year-old.
The Department of Homeland Security has disputed the family’s allegations that officers drove over one of Paniagua Calderon’s feet.
Carmen Paniagua holds video chat call with her brother-in-law Jose Paniagua Calderon from the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma where he is being held. Jose Paniagua was arrested in Vancouver on Dec. 4 during which he says his foot was run over by ICE agents.
Erik Neumann / OPB
“FALSE. ICE did NOT run over this illegal alien’s leg,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin wrote in an emailed statement Sunday. “After ICE officers applied wrist restraints, Paniagua launched into an Oscar-level performance, dramatically screaming while officers simply moved his vehicle off the roadway. He walked around normally immediately after without issue and received a full medical evaluation including multiple X rays that showed ZERO fractures, dislocations or injuries. Pure theatre. No Injury.”
Public outcry about video of the incident quickly spread across social media over the weekend. The arrest drew criticism from Washington Sen. Patty Murray, and the Vancouver Police Department announced it would conduct a traffic investigation to determine what happened.
“Based on the information regarding a vehicle that is alleged to have struck a person within the city limits of Vancouver, per our policy, the Vancouver Police Department will be conducting a traffic investigation to determine the facts,” the police department said in a statement.
ICE activity has increased in Vancouver in recent weeks, including in the Fourth Plain corridor, an arterial populated with small restaurants and car mechanics.
“This is a terror action by the Trump administration,” said Alan Unell, an organizer with the Vancouver Indivisible chapter during Monday’s protest. Unell said he gets daily calls about people being pulled off the streets by ICE in Vancouver.
A GoFundMe campaign set up over the weekend by Carmen Paniagua had raised more than $22,000 as of Monday. She said the family is in the process of finding an attorney.
Jose’s brother, Cristian Paniagua, said the family has received a number of threats since speaking out about Jose, but they don’t plan to stop advocating for him.
“Nobody should be treated like an animal,” he said. “Nobody should be treated like that.”
