By admin 
Newly released video offers the most detailed look yet at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers’ attempt earlier this month to inspect a Sacramento immigration law firm without a warrant.
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The video, reviewed by and provided to The Sacramento Bee, captures the ICE agents’ entire visit from multiple angles in the parking lot of a North Natomas commercial building. The footage shows that the federal agents were in the parking lot for at least 43 minutes and corroborates many of the accounts provided by people who interacted with the officers on the morning of Aug. 14.
Employees of the Morris Law Group and next door dental office previously told The Bee that an ICE agent who entered the front lobby of the office claimed officers had a list from Washington D.C., that said people lived at the address and asked to inspect the law firm for beds. The officer was denied access after failing to provide a warrant, though he reportedly warned that officers could return at 3 a.m. and break windows to enter if they received follow-up orders.
The interaction was unusual even with a federal administration with a well-known, escalated immigration enforcement agenda. Law firms hold confidential information about clients and federal agents need a judicial warrant to enter non-public areas of a business. Local, state and federal elected leaders, including California U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, have criticized the visit. Both the senators have promised to investigate.
The Department of Homeland Security has provided three written statements to The Bee since the incident. The statements differ in details, but all say that ICE officers were unaware they had arrived at a law firm office. In one statement, the agency said federal agents did not interact with employees of the building.
The video footage, provided by medical clinic Natomas Family Practice, shows two black vehicles parking directly in front of the law firm’s office at 9:14 a.m. Their arrival quickly caught the attention of a man who had parked nearby and was walking toward the clinic. He repeatedly turns his head to look back at the vehicles.
A man wearing a plaid shirt and hat, but no uniform, then exits one of the vehicles. He walks over to speak with a person in the second vehicle before entering the law firm, whose name appears in large, bold letters on the front and back of the building.
Within minutes, two more black vehicles arrive. The ICE agent who entered the office exits at 9:26 a.m. He again walks over to speak with someone in the second vehicle before returning to his car. Employees of the building recounted that the officer was told multiple times that he could not inspect the office without a warrant.
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At 9:28 a.m., Daniel Azurduy, a dentist and the building manager, exits the office and to speak with the ICE officer who entered the law firm. Azurduy previously told The Bee that he threatened to call police and told the federal agent the officers were trespassing because they did not have a warrant.
Three of the four vehicles then move to other parts of the parking lot, while one remains directly in front of the law firm for another 20 minutes. The ICE officer in that vehicle appears to take photos of the building before leaving that spot at 9:46 a.m.
Some of black vehicles remained the parking lot until at least 9:57 a.m.
DHS’ own accounts of the incident have changed over time.
In its initial statement on Aug. 15, the agency said that ICE officers approached an “unmarked door” and believed it was a “target address” as it was listed for the address of people they planned to arrest. The agents left after learning the location was a law firm, the agency said in the statement.
Clients of immigration lawyers routinely use an office’s address as their mailing address.
In response to follow-up questions from The Bee, DHS sent a second statement Thursday afternoon that stated officers were attempting to locate one specific man who had two prior removals and listed the commercial building as his address. An officer walked around the building, rang the doorbell, and when no one answered, the agents departed, the agency added.
The footage shows no officer walking around the building. The Morris Law Group and neighboring dental office also do not have doorbells outside the building.
After The Bee sought further clarification, DHS provided a third response. The agency again said officers believed the building was a “target address” for multiple people. This time, the agency acknowledged that officers spoke with staff.
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