At least two people were taken into custody by federal agents during an immigration enforcement operation in the Maple Leaf neighborhood of North Seattle on Tuesday morning, according to FOX 13 Seattle. The operation unfolded around eight thirty in the morning and quickly drew the attention of residents in what is normally a very quiet residential area.
For many people who live and work in Maple Leaf, the enforcement action came as a shock. Residents and business owners told the station that they had never really dealt with immigration enforcement in their community before. The reporter described a typical neighborhood where, even as the operation was underway, business owners went about their day and parents walked their children and dogs down the street.
Much of what is known about the incident comes from video recorded by neighbors that has since been circulating online. According to the station, multiple people came out and captured the scene from several angles, and the reporter said one of the individuals seen in the footage was taken into custody by federal agents.
The footage shows how word of the operation spread through the block. A bystander began recording on a cell phone, and a person in a green hooded sweatshirt sounded a whistle for as long as twenty to forty seconds. Such whistles, handed out along with know-your-rights red cards at rallies, are meant to be blown in short bursts to alert others when enforcement agents are seen in an area.
The prolonged whistle, the reporter said, woke up several neighbors, who then came outside and began filming what was going on. In the video, several vehicles described as either undercover or federal are visible, including a dark colored SUV with an obscured license plate, a beige minivan and a pickup truck parked down the street.
The station noted that some of the license plates captured in the footage were shared with websites that track immigration operations, detentions and the vehicles involved, part of an effort by residents to keep the wider community informed. The reporter urged caution in showing the raw images, and further details about those detained had not been released.