ICE agents stormed a Disney cruise ship docking in San Diego and arrested multiple workers in front of stunned passengers.
Vacationers watched on as immigration officials cuffed several employees on the Disney Magic ship while it was being unloaded.
Passenger Dharmi Mehta took a video of the moment, saying one of those detained was her server during the five-day trip last month.
“He was full in uniform, which was in a blazer, tie. Some of the other employees were still in their chef’s uniforms with their name tags on it,” Mehta said. She called the arrests “really unsettling.”
Mehta said she didn’t know how he would reach out to his family without his belongings, which it appeared he did not take with him.
“So that was just my big concern like how is he gonna reach out to his family? Does the family even know that he’s not getting back on the ship today?”
Mehta said she witnessed federal agents load the crewmembers into a white van. Ten crewmembers from the Disney ship were arrested, and another four from another ship the next day, immigration groups said.
Several immigration rights groups have been up in arms about the Disney arrests, and also claimed four “seafarers” were arrested on the Holland America MV Zandaam cruise ship.
“This is not an isolated incident,” Benjamin Prado from Union del Barrio said. “In fact, it has become a growing pattern, not only here in San Diego but throughout this country.”
The port said local police were not involved in the arrest.
“The Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department did not have any involvement in the reported enforcement actions on April 23 or April 25 at the B Street Cruise Terminal,” a spokesperson for the port told NBC San Diego.
“We did not receive any calls for service related to these incidents. In accordance with California law, including SB 54, Harbor Police does not participate in immigration enforcement activities,” they added.
A maritime attorney told ABC 10 that they “obviously had a reason to go there,” and added that it “could have been any number” of things.
The California Post reached out to the Department of Homeland Security and Disney for comment.
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