Arizona man speaks out after ICE arrested his father

GILBERT, Ariz. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - An Arizona man is speaking out after his father's ICE arrest outside of their Gilbert home last Tuesday.

"They took a part of me. Just stripped away," said Alonzo Zavala Barajas, son of a man arrested by ICE.

Barajas, 23, was born and raised in Arizona, living alongside his parents and sister.

But Barajas says his father is undocumented, and on last Tuesday morning, he watched ICE agents arrest him outside his Gilbert home.

"It felt really quiet and the weight of the world dropped on my shoulders," Barajas expressed.

Barajas says his dad had a civil offense and he recently paid the fine, but not a criminal history.

"Why six people surrounding him? Why bother camping out at six in the morning for someone like that," Barajas wondered.

Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced more than 20,000 without legal status were arrested in the first month of President Donald Trump's administration.

Immigration attorney Emilia Banuelos says she's providing counsel for some of those Arizona families: "They're afraid. They're scared. They're devastated."

Banuelos says people without legal status have rights, but still, anyone under arrest needs to cooperate with agents.

"You can't run. You can't fight ICE, but you could remain silent, you could ask for a lawyer because everything you say will be used against you," Banuelos explained.

She encourages families of mixed status to have a plan in place.

Barajas says it's a plan his family had, but never thought they'd have to use: "He has a life here. He has a life with us here."