Federal agents detain immigrant rights group volunteers in Ventura County Wednesday morning

OXNARD, Calif. (KEYT) – Multiple volunteers with immigrant rights organization VC Defensa were subject to early morning detentions and searches by federal officials in Ventura County early Wednesday.

According to VC Defensa, at least two volunteers with their group were part of the sweeping raids that specifically targeted electronic devices and were authorized by search warrants.

The image below, courtesy of VC Defensa, show armed personnel wearing federal agency insignias staging outside of one of the homes involved in the Wednesday morning searches and detentions.

The Oxnard Police Department confirmed to Your News Channel that the Department of Homeland Security informed them that agents would be conducting operations in the Oxnard area, but did not provide any additional details.

Other locations, including an office associated with VC Defensa in Oxnard pictured below, were also subject to searches by federal personnel, the immigrant rights group shared, but the exact number of locations searched Wednesday remains unclear.

"This is completely unconstitutional, clearly an intimidation tactic being used against people who are exercising their right to organize and protect their community," said Reem Yassin, an attorney on behalf of the organization. "We will be taking legal action to fight back against these unjust attacks."

A group working alongside VC Defensa issued a statement indicating they intend to contest the raids in court and will be hosting a press conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday, May 14, outside of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Los Angeles.

"These scare tactics aren't anything new," Lainy Yompian, a leader with VC Defensa shared Wednesday. "But we wont be intimidated because we're organized - and we know that the best defense comes from an organized and informed community, which is exactly what we are building in Ventura and what other organizers are building across the country."

The detainees are now out of federal custody shared a group working in collaboration with VC Defensa in response to Your News Channel's inquiries.

One of the involved volunteers detained Wednesday morning, Leo Martinez, was previously detained by federal agents from multiple agencies on October 16, 2025, while lawfully observing their actions.

A DHS spokesperson stated later the same month that federal agents were seeking to apprehend a Mexican national who is a registered sex offender at the time, but no other details about the operation, including if it was authorized by a judicial warrant or involved national security elements, were provided despite multiple requests for more information, including an unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act Request and an official complaint filed with the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General filed by Your News Channel author.

Federal agents claimed Martinez had attacked them using his truck, but videos, images, and accounts that came out later revealed a very different version of events that directly contradicted the claims made by federal agents to local dispatchers and responding officers.

The images below show a vehicle driven by a federal agent colliding with the dark truck driven by Leo Martinez on October 16, 2025.

During the October detention in Oxnard, federal agents at the scene were recorded speaking with a person the agents identified as the "AUSA", an acronym often used to refer to an Assistant U.S. Attorney, a federal prosecutor, and the federal agent's supervisor stated the decision about what was going to happen to Leo Martinez that day was ultimately up to the "AUSA" captured Oxnard Police Department Officer Wood's body-worn camera which was released alongside the body cameras of multiple other officers in the same agency in compliance with a state disclosure law request filed by Your News Channel author.

Despite the written and recorded evidence of the participation of at least one federal prosecutor, likely within the First Assistant's Office for the Central District of California a spokesperson later admitted, the First Assistant's Office declined to confirm the person identified by federal agents as an Assistant U.S. Attorney was a prosecutor from their office.

The First Assistant's Office then claimed that the content of the conversation captured by Oxnard Police officer's body cameras and reviewed by Your News Channel may be private information subject to attorney-client privilege and might be subject to litigation if aired.

Your News Channel has not received any indication as of publication of this article that it is facing federal charges connected to our coverage of Martinez's detention.

Martinez was initially told when he was released from federal custody the same day as his detention that he was facing federal charges, but there has been no charges filed in connection at this point.

Your News Channel has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and the First Assistant's Office for the Central District of California and their respective responses will be added to this article when they are received.