Immigration raid in San Diego leaves two teens without parents

SAN DIEGO (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A recent immigration raid in San Diego left two teenagers without parents.

Video captured shows more than a dozen agents showing up to the family's apartment last week.

Heavily armed federal agents delivered an early morning wakeup call to Kevin Robles and his little sister Raquel.

"I mean, I never thought it was going to happen, especially to my family at six in the morning," Robles shared.

The agents were executing a sealed warrant for the arrest of their father, Arnoldo Robles, on one charge of being a deported migrant in the U.S.

They sent a drone inside and used flashbangs before entering the home themselves.

"It was [a] scary imagine. Just opening the door and getting received by 20 lasers pointed at you and all these rifles," Robles added.

The agents ultimately led Arnoldo, his wife, Angelica Ortega, and their two children out of the home, one by one in handcuffs.

"My cuffs were tied to the max, and I was telling them if they can loosen them and they're just [saying] foul language [to me before saying, 'You can handle this']," Robles remembered.

Court records obtained by an NBC affiliate in San Diego showed Arnoldo was convicted of a DUI in 2023 and was on probation.

"I said, 'You guys are out here like, if you're coming to do, like, a drug cartel or a murder or something like, this is crazy,'" said Ada Rocha, their neighbor.

Rocha watched it all unfold and says the firepower didn't match the threat.

"I know you guys are doing your job like we all have a job, but there's ways of doing it. Why the necessary of breaking windows, of bringing 30+ armed people?" Rocha expressed.

Robles and Raquel, both U.S. citizens, were eventually released.

"And that's when I find out that both of my parents have been taken, and then that's when I broke down in tears," Robles said.

Arnoldo remains in federal custody, and Ortega is now in deportation proceedings.

"They said they only came to get one person, but they ended up taking both of them," Robles shared.

Robles says his mom has not received the medical care she needs while detained, and he hasn't been able to reach his dad.

"I wonder how my dad is and how he's doing? How the situation is going? And how is there a way I can get in contact with my dad?" Robles remarked.

Theirs is a tight knit neighborhood that painted a mural of the couple as they hope for their return.

"Sad...sad because they're good people," Rocha further expressed.