In a troubling incident captured on video, a female migrant was seen pleading, “Help me, I have my papers,” as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers detained her at Salt Lake City Airport.
Marta Brizeyda Renderos Leiva, 39, was forcibly taken away by plainclothes agents on Wednesday, much to the shock and dismay of onlookers at the Utah airport.
The arrest footage reveals Leiva being restrained by her arms and placed in handcuffs. As officers lifted her from the ground, she resisted by kicking and stamping her feet.
Amidst the chaos, Leiva cried out desperately, repeating her plea for help and reportedly calling out for her son.
Travelers watched in shock as the scene unfolded, with a police officer positioned between the crowd and the ICE agents.
The reasons behind Leiva’s presence at the airport and the specifics of her arrest remain unclear.
In a statement, ICE identified Leiva as being in the country illegally and said she was originally from El Salvador, having entered the US in 2007.
Leiva was targeted in what they described in a statement as a ‘targeted enforcement operation’ after being given a final order of removal in absentia in February of 2020.
The horrifying clip was captured by author Shannon Hale who shared it online and described what unfolded.
Leiva, an El Salvador native, was caught on camera being dragged away by ICE agents on Wednesday
A group of plainclothes agents conducted what ICE described as a ‘targeted enforcement operation’
According to Hale, Leiva was dragged away just outside of the airport security line as onlookers.
She wrote: ‘I hurried through the crowd and straight up to the commotion and asked an airport worker in uniform what was happening and why was no one helping her?
‘They told me the men were ICE. I began to shake. I wanted to help her. She was a mom, a woman, under assault, begging for help. Why couldn’t I help her?
‘I think I said something like, ‘We need to help her!’ A uniformed police officer looked back at me and stepped more directly between me and the woman under assault.
‘His body language said he was standing guard and he was prepared to stop anyone who tried to intervene.
‘If this was a kidnapping, technically currently ‘legal’ or not, at least I could record her face so her family would know what happened.’
In a statement, Salt Lake City Police Department added: ‘ Our officer noticed the commotion and went over, and the individuals identified themselves as federal law enforcement and showed their badge
‘We did not participate in any other way, other than going to check out to see what the commotion was.’
According to ICE, Leiva was given a final order of removal in absentia in February of 2020
The scene unfolded inside Salt Lake International Airport, pictured here, on Wednesday
After the clip surfaced the Mayor of Salt Lake City Erin Mendenhall released a statement saying the incident had a ‘major impact’ on the community.
She added: ‘I am left wondering and aching from the fear and pain these types of operations keep striking in my heart and the hearts of so many of us.
‘I do not know the reason for this detainment nor details about the individual, as we seldom do when ICE acts, but I do know that this incident has had a major impact on our community.
‘There is so much about ICE operations that create a sense of fear, and we know we’ll likely never receive answers to our many questions that surround them.
‘What I do know is that nothing about this incident, like so many ICE operations, makes me feel safer as an American.’
The Daily Mail has approached ICE for further details on the arrest.
