Democrat Congressman Salud Carbajal admitted on video that he took a business card from an ICE agent during a chaotic raid in Carpinteria. On its own, that might seem routine, until ICE publicly accused him of handing that card to a violent mob.
ICE alleges that the card was shared with protestors who were throwing rocks at agents. One officer was later struck and bloodied during the clash.
The Congressman did an interview right after the raid:
Below is the full transcript of Congressman Carbajal’s remarks from the scene:
“We’re ICE just finished an ICE raid operation. I got here. I got many calls from constituents, from social media. We saw what was happening, and I came here to do my congressional oversight responsibilities. When I got here, there was obviously a crowd of protests.And it was overkill. Over 50 ICE agents that were here, and they were conducting this operation. They were creating fear, anxiety and intimidation. They were dressed in military garb, clothing, military grade weapons. They were just creating an untenable, incendiary circumstance. You had a sense where they could have got members of the public and themselves hurt. They were pouring gasoline on the flames of this situation.This is ridiculous. There was a child that was hurt. They deployed various flash devices and smoke devices. Here’s part of the shrapnel that came from one of those devices, and it actually hurt a young child that was in the crowd. This is deplorable. This should not be happening on our soil. Individuals dressed like military personnel on our soil. We don’t do that in America. This is overkill. This was a bunch of crap.And I’m here to do our oversight. They didn’t let me through. I saw other members of the public right through here on bicycles, and certainly they did not let me go through the line, the perimeter line that they created. Eventually they dispersed, and that’s why I’m here right now.It’s my understanding they apprehended 10 out of the 12 individuals that were here. I got that from the owner of this nursery, not from the ICE agents. Nobody would speak to me. I only got a card from the government relations person and asked me to, if I wanted information, to call Los Angeles. This is unacceptable. If I’m here as a member of Congress doing my oversight responsibility, I should be given the information and the contact information that I need. And that was not the case today. This is deplorable.”
Later, speaking to The Independent, Carbajal went further, mocking the agents themselves:
“They looked like they were having fun dressing up like they were in the military. I’m guessing less than half of them had ever served.”
Carbajal has repeatedly characterized the raid as overly aggressive, using terms like “overkill,” “deplorable,” and “militarized.” But ICE now alleges that amid the chaos, the congressman compromised an officer’s safety by exposing his identity to a hostile crowd, and the consequences followed.
This isn’t about a disagreement over immigration policy. It’s about safety, discretion, and the responsibility that comes with public office. Whether intentional or not, sharing the identity of a federal officer during an escalating confrontation puts lives in danger.
Mocking law enforcement officers, disregarding security protocol, and enabling escalation is not legitimate oversight; it’s reckless. As tensions rise nationwide, elected officials must understand the weight of their words and actions.
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