HUMSI — Human Security Initiative

Human Impact Project

A living database documenting reported immigration enforcement incidents and their human impact.

Tamale vendor hospitalized after struggle with ICE agents in Los Angeles

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Country of origin: Mexico

Tamale vendor hospitalized after struggle with ICE agents in Los Angeles

Matilde Garduño, who has sold tamales from the same Los Angeles street corner for 13 years, says she was grabbed and restrained by immigration agents while packing up her cart after being warned that federal vehicles were nearby. She says agents held her by the arms and torso as she struggled to breathe, eventually collapsing and losing consciousness on the ground. Garduño, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, was taken to a hospital where she received oxygen and underwent heart surgery the next day to clear blocked arteries. She said the experience left her with lasting emotional trauma, including nightmares and an inability to leave her home in the days that followed.

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