Marine veteran addresses Congress after dad forcibly detained by immigration agents
Customs and Border Patrol agents arrested Narciso Barranco, who is undocumented, in Santa Ana on June 21, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Video of him being forcibly detained showed masked agents holding him down on the street and repeatedly punching him after he ran from agents.
"My father has no criminal record and should have never been attacked by these agents," his son, Alejandro Barranco, told Democratic members of the House Committee on Homeland Security during an oversight forum examining the Trump administration's detention and deportation practices on Tuesday. "He supported his family and paid taxes. He is a human being, but he was not treated with the basic dignity he deserved."
MORE: Millions of undocumented immigrants will no longer be eligible for bond hearings, according to ICE memo
ADVERTISEMENT
Alejandro Barranco said his father, who has two other sons who are currently serving as Marines, is "deeply devoted to this country." The veteran said he believes the current immigration system is "broken."
'Cruel and indiscriminate raids are tearing families apart and punishing hard-working people who contribute to our communities every day," Alejandro Barranco said. "My father, like so many others, deserves a fair chance to stay in this country he calls home. The country is better because of people like my dad. It is time our policies reflected that."
Damian Dovarganes/AP - PHOTO: Alejandro Barranco conducts an interview as he arrives to check on his father Narciso, who was detained by federal agents, outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, June 23, 2025, in Los Angeles.
Narciso Barranco has since been released from custody bond but is "still scared," his son said.
"He's still traumatized from everything that happened," Alejandro Barranco said.
The Department of Homeland Security said following the arrest that Narciso Barranco tried to evade law enforcement, "swung a weed whacker directly at an agent's face" and resisted commands.
ADVERTISEMENT
"The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement at the time.
A controversial and violent takedown caught on camera shows masked border patrol agents repeatedly punching an undocumented immigrant after he's been detained. The agents claim the father of three marines threatened them with a weed whacker. @TrevorLAult has details. pic.twitter.com/yg5aHI0IHz
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) June 24, 2025
Alejandro Barranco said during Tuesday's forum that his father got scared after the masked agents approached him while he was at work.
"As he worked, he noticed masked men approaching him, and was quickly surrounded by men who did not identify themselves and never presented any type of warrant," he said. "Terrified, he ran. They chased him through the parking lot and into a crowded street. They pointed guns at him, pepper-sprayed him. They tackled him to the ground and kicked him."
MORE: Newlywed Palestinian woman released from ICE custody after months in detention
ADVERTISEMENT
When asked his thoughts about Marines being sent to assist in immigration operations, Alejandro said he believes many would feel "confused, hurt and just sad about everything that is going on."
"I served with a lot of Marines who are of Latino backgrounds and whose parents and family members, some of them are undocumented," he said.
When asked by Rep. Lou Correa, D-Calif., if he was still loyal to the U.S., the Marine veteran replied, "Yes, of course."
"I decided to join the Marine Corps out of the love I have for this country and to bring honor to my family name," Alejandro Barranco said. "When I told my dad I was going to enlist, he cried with pride. He told me to give everything I had, because we should do anything and everything to give back to our country."
Narciso Barranco was released from federal custody on July 15 and has an immigration status hearing in August, according to Orange City Council officials.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Newborn Baby Abandoned in 90 Degree Heat. Authorities Are Still Searching for His Parents
"This is the hottest day of the year. It's insane," a neighbor said after the baby was foundNEED TO KNOW A newborn baby was found abandoned in a car seat in a driveway in Orlando, Fla. on July 28 The baby boy was just a week old and was left alone in temperatures in the 90s The search for his parents is ongoingA newborn baby was discovered alone and strapped in a car seat in a driveway in Florida, according to reports. On Monday, July 28, a one-week-old baby boy was found abandoned near a stranger's home in the 5500 block of Lido Street in Orlando at around 7:20 a.m. local time, CBS affiliate WKMG, FOX affiliate WOFL and FOX affiliate WFLA reported. He was taken to a local hospital and is doing well, authorities said. Video footage showed the homeowner lifting a blanket to check on the sleeping boy, while additional footage revealed a police officer holding the newborn, ABC affiliate WFTV reported. The search is ongoing for the unidentified baby's parents, and police have asked that neighbors review their surveillance footage, according to WOFL. The Orlando Police Department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment. The temperature was in the 90s that morning, as a local resident noted after the shocking discovery. 'This is the hottest day of the year. It's insane. I mean, from what we know, might have been during the night,' Nolan Clark told WKMG. 'So, hopefully the mom and the baby are okay.' While the newborn wasn't harmed, the incident prompted officials to remind Floridians about the state's Safe Haven law, which allows parents to safely and legally relinquish their newborn child. 'Parents can safely leave an infant with someone at designated locations,' the Orlando Police Department told WKMG in a statement, 'such as a hospital, a staffed fire rescue station, or a staffed emergency medical service station, with no questions asked, anonymously, and without fear of prosecution.' While Safe Haven laws differ in each state, a newborn can be given to a Safe Haven provider with no legal consequences if the baby is unharmed, according to the National Safe Haven Alliance. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The purpose is to prevent the newborn from experiencing injury, neglect or death. Since the first Safe Haven law went into effect in Texas in 1999, more than 5,000 babies have been safely surrendered. In 2023, 41 infants were illegally abandoned (28 of which were found dead), while 122 were safely turned over, according to the organization. Anyone with information about the baby boy is urged to call 321-235-5300. To leave a tip anonymously, call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS (8477) or visit Read the original article on People
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Texas House Republicans unveil new congressional map that looks to pick up five GOP seats
Texas GOP lawmakers released their first draft of the state's new congressional map Wednesday, proposing revamped district lines that attempt to flip five Democratic seats in next year's midterm elections. The new map targets Democratic members of Congress in the Austin, Dallas and Houston metro areas and in South Texas. The draft, unveiled by Corpus Christi Republican Rep. Todd Hunter, will likely change before the final map is approved by both chambers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott. Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state. This unusual mid-decade redistricting comes after a pressure campaign waged by President Donald Trump's political team in the hopes of padding Republicans' narrow majority in the U.S. House. Currently, Republicans hold 25 of Texas' 38 House seats. Trump carried 27 of those districts in 2024, including those won by Democratic Reps. Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Vicente Gonzalez of McAllen. Under the proposed new lines, 30 districts would have gone to Trump last year, each by at least 10 percentage points. The districts represented by Cuellar and Gonzalez — both of which are overwhelmingly Hispanic and anchored in South Texas — would become slightly more favorable to Republicans. Trump received 53% and 52% in those districts, respectively, in 2024; under the new proposed lines, he would have gotten almost 55% in both districts. Also targeted are Democratic Reps. Julie Johnson of Farmers Branch — whose Dallas-anchored district would be reshaped to favor Republicans — and Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, whose nearby district would remain solidly blue but drop all of Fort Worth — Veasey's hometown and political base. That seat — now solely in Dallas County — contains parts of Johnson's, Veasey's and Rep. Jasmine Crockett's current district, raising the prospect of a primary between Veasey and Johnson. The map's newly proposed GOP seat in Central Texas also triggers the prospect of Austin Democratic Reps. Greg Casar and Lloyd Doggett facing each other in a primary for the area's lone remaining blue district. To avoid that scenario, one of the two would have to step aside or run an uphill race for a new Central Texas district, based in San Antonio, that Trump would have won by 10 points. In the Houston area, the proposed map would remake four Democratic districts. The biggest upheaval would be in the 9th Congressional District, a majority-minority seat represented by Rep. Al Green that currently covers the southern part of Harris County and its direct southern neighbors. It would shift to the eastern parts of Houston, where no current member of Congress lives. Instead of being a seat that Vice President Kamala Harris won by 44 percent under the current boundary, Trump would have won it by 15 percent. Texas' Republican-dominated Legislature last drew these maps in 2021, with an eye toward protecting incumbents by making their seats as safe as possible. Trump won every Republican-held Texas district in 2024 by double-digit margins, as did every GOP incumbent who received a Democratic opponent. Edinburg Rep. Monica De La Cruz's 14-point victory was the closest of any winning Republican. To pick up new seats, Republicans have proposed to pack more Democratic voters into districts in the state's blue urban centers, giving Democrats even bigger margins in districts they already control, such as those represented by Crockett, Rep. Joaquin Castro in San Antonio and Rep. Sylvia Garcia in Houston. And they're looking to disperse Republican voters from safely red districts into several districts currently represented by Democrats, such as the ones held by Johnson and Casar. No Republican incumbents' districts were made significantly more competitive. The map-drawers managed to move more Republican voters into Democratic districts around Dallas and Houston without imperiling the nearby seats of GOP Reps. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving and Troy Nehls, R-Fort Bend. Both faced competitive races in 2020 before their districts were redrawn in 2021 to become solidly Republican, and neither was made to sacrifice those gains in the state House's initial map. The changes would create two more districts in which white residents make up a majority of eligible voters, or citizens who are old enough to vote, hiking the number of such districts from 22 under the current map to 24. Hispanic residents — the state's largest demographic group, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates — currently form the majority of eligible voters in seven districts, a total that would rise to eight under the new plan. Four of the five districts that Republicans have drawn with the intention of flipping are now majority-Hispanic — though the Hispanic populations in the new seats in Houston and Central Texas are almost exactly 50%. The proposed map would also create two majority Black districts, where previously there were none. Among them is the Houston-centered 18th Congressional District, which has been represented by a decades-long run of renowned Black Democratic members, including Barbara Jordan, Mickey Leland, Sheila Jackson Lee and, most recently, Sylvester Turner, whose death in March left the seat vacant. The map proposes to pack even more Democratic voters into the solidly blue seat: Harris won the district with 69% in 2024 and would have carried it with 76% under the new boundaries. Crockett's Dallas seat would also become majority Black. The 18th District was among Texas' four majority-minority congressional seats flagged by the U.S. Department of Justice as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders, a charge Texas Republicans have interchangeably denied in court and cited as the basis for pursuing mid-decade redistricting. Any new map will inevitably be challenged in court. Courts have found that at least one of Texas' maps violated the Voting Rights Act every decade since it went into effect in the mid-60s. The current map is still being challenged in federal court in El Paso, with no verdict yet reached. The lineup for The Texas Tribune Festival continues to grow! Be there when all-star leaders, innovators and newsmakers take the stage in downtown Austin, Nov. 13–15. The newest additions include comedian, actor and writer John Mulaney; Dallas mayor Eric Johnson; U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minnesota; New York Media Editor-at-Large Kara Swisher; and U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
a minute ago
- Yahoo
Chevron granted restricted US license to operate in Venezuela, sources say
By Marianna Parraga HOUSTON (Reuters) -Chevron has been granted a restricted U.S. license to operate in sanctioned Venezuela, three sources close to the decision said on Wednesday, adding that no money from oil proceeds can be transferred in any way to the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Last week, Reuters reported that the U.S. was preparing to grant new authorizations to key partners of Venezuela's state-run PDVSA, starting with Chevron, to allow them to operate with limitations in the OPEC nation and swap oil. The authorization, issued privately to the U.S. oil producer, opens a new window for its oil business in Venezuela only two months after a deadline previously set by Washington for joint-venture partners of state company PDVSA to wind down transactions, including oil exports. Chevron and a handful of European oil companies, including Spain's Repsol and France's Maurel & Prom, had been granted authorizations by the administration of former President Joe Biden, which allowed them to expand operations in Venezuela and export oil to the U.S. and Europe. Amid criticism on migration and democracy in Venezuela, U.S. President Donald Trump in February said the licenses would be revoked and gave the companies until late May to complete transactions. In consequence, Chevron reduced operations in Venezuela and instructed a dedicated fleet of tankers to sail away, delegating operations to PDVSA. Washington allowed Chevron to preserve its assets in the OPEC country, including its joint-venture stakes. The new license would now allow the U.S. company to make decisions at its joint ventures and contribute to procurement and contract payments, two of the sources said. However, since no payments can be made to Venezuela, including mandatory royalties and taxes, it was not immediately clear if PDVSA would assign Chevron any crude cargoes bound to the U.S. It was also unclear if any other partner of PDVSA has received a similar authorization. Chevron declined to comment on the license and said it conducts business globally in compliance with laws and regulations, as well as the U.S. sanctions frameworks. The U.S. Treasury Department and PDVSA did not immediately reply to requests for comment. In April, when the previous licenses were still current, PDVSA canceled cargoes allocated to Chevron over problems receiving mandatory payments. Chevron has not exported Venezuelan oil since. Sign in to access your portfolio
