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By Miriam Raftery
Photos and videos by Shiloh Ireland
“It’s my duty...to speak up for other people that currently are scared... I know what it feels like to be undocumented and having to be living in the shadows for fear of being deported.” – Carlos Gomez Perez, an Iraq War combat veteran who earned a Silver Star medal of valor.
July 3, 2025 (El Cajon) – As Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids ramp up nationwide, detaining and deporting even many immigrants who committed no crimes, an “ICE out of El Cajon” march and rally on June 28 called for support of immigrants.
Concerns over non-criminals detained and abuse of detainees
Trump ran on a platform of deporting “violent criminals” who are undocumented. But KPBS reports that since Donald Trump took office in January, the number of detained immigrants who have no criminal records has skyrocketed by 12,000%--from 800 to over 11,700. By contrast, detentions of convicted criminals in ICE detention rose only 59%, from 9,000 in January to 14,500 in June.
Merely crossing the border is merely an infraction in most instances, yet the punishment even for those here for decades is deportation under the Trump administration, a contrast to previous administrations such as Republican Ronald Reagan, who granted amnesty to many immigrants, or the Obama and Biden administrations, that showed mercy in creating the DACA program to allow immigrants brought here as children to remain in the U.S.
In recent months, those detained include several undocumented workers at a painting contracting company in unincorporated El Cajon, as well as restaurant employees in San Diego and over 2,000 immigrants detained in Los Angeles. Many have lived in the U.S. for decades. ICE has shown seemingly no mercy, deporting even a Marine Corps veteran’s wife who was still breastfeeding their baby, AP reported.
Further stoking fears are growing reports of abusive treatment of migrants put into detention facilities. An investigation by Wired.com reviewed records from hundreds of emergency calls from ICE detention facilities in the U.S.. The records including audio recordings revealed “a system inundated by life-threatening incidents, delayed treatment, and overcrowding.” A pregnant woman who miscarried was denied care for three days after her baby died, Wired reported in ‘They're Not Breathing’: Inside the Chaos of ICE Detention Center 911 Calls.
An immigrant deported to an infamous El Salvador prison without due process suffered psychological and physical torture, according to his attorney, including being beaten and forced to kneel all night long, stripped naked, and losing over 30 pounds, according to a court filing, MSN reports.
Other immigrants have been sent to Guantanamo Bay, the same site where Al Qadea terrorists have been detained since the 911 terror attacks. Now a new “Alligator Alcatraz” detention tent city has been set up in a Florida swamp, which some have likened to a concentration camp.
Even some American citizens have been wrongfully detained by ICE, according to CNN, which cites concerns over racial profiling and violations of constitutional rights The ACLU has just filed a lawsuit against the federal government over masked agents who refuse to identify themselves carrying out warrantless raids to “abduct and disappear” in Southern California.
El Cajon march and rally
In El Cajon, marchers chanted, “Immigrants are welcome here! No hate. No fear.” View video.
Some carried anti-Trump and anti-ICE signs, while other signs called for recall of El Cajon Councilman Phil Ortiz. Ortiz changed his stance to cast the deciding vote on a measure that allowed city police to increase cooperation with federal immigration authorities.
American flags as well as Mexican flags were carried by some rally participants.
One sign reminded everyone that America has been a nation of immigrants since Columbus arrived. The sign read, "The most dangerous immigrant arrived in 1492!!"
The march and rally were organized by a coalition led by Latinos en Acción. In addition to speakers, it featured examples of Latino music, dance and culture.
An Iraq War combat veteran speaks out
Among the marchers was Carlos Gomez Perez, a proud Iraq War veteran who says he has lived in El Cajon since 1992. View video of interview.
In an exclusive interview with Shiloh Ireland, Perez said, “I am here because I need to step up to speak for the ones who cannot speak for themselves,” adding, “I know what it feels like to be undocumented and having to be living in the shadows for fear of being deported.”
He adds, “I’m no longer that 9-year-old undocumented boy that had no voice. I’m now a 42-year-old Marine combat veteran from Fallujah who’s been shot twice and awarded the Silver Star, which is the third highest medal of honor.”
Perez said he is wearing his Iraqi War combat veteran hat as a “shield” to prevent racial profiling, which he says he’s experienced when not wearing it.
He recalls that someone spoke up for him when he had no voice as a child, to ensure he would have a pathway forward. Now, he says, “It’s my duty” as well as a “privilege to speak up for other people that currently are scared.”
He faulted the Trump administration for pledging to deport criminals, but then broadening the mass deportations to even include young children. “How is an 8-year-old kid in fourth grade a criminal?” he asks. “Yet they are being handcuffed and deported...No one is saying `Enough is enough.’”
He also criticized El Cajon’s City Council majority for voting 3-2 to have police cooperate more with ICE in an era of mass deportations of seemingly any non-citizens. The Trump administration has even revoked special protected status from some immigrants who came here legally, such as translators who helped the U.S. military in Afghanistan.
He says he’s been to El Cajon City Council meetings and talked with Mayor Bill Wells. “I want to tell him, and I’ve told him before, your job ultimately is to make sure that all of your constituents feel safe.” He wants the Mayor to represent all of his constituents and take action to help those who are “having to fear ICE raids taking place” while “doing nothing about it.”
Of El Cajon’s controversial vote, he says, “Now the rest of the cities want to follow suit. This is where it started, and we’ve got to put an end to it and bring a light to what is happening not only in San Diego and Los Angeles, but honestly in the entire nation.”
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