The son of a landscaper who was punched by a federal agent when he was taken into custody over the weekend in Santa Ana met with his father at a Los Angeles detention center Tuesday for the first time since the violent immigration enforcement arrest captured on video.
In an interview Tuesday afternoon, Alejandro Barranco said he spoke with his 48-year-old father through a window barrier at the federal detention center, where he was transported after he was taken into custody Saturday in Santa Ana.
“He looked bad. He looked really bad,” Barranco said. “He was wearing the same clothes as when they got him. Still had blood on his shirt. He just looked scared. His eyes are all red. He says they burn.”
Locating where his father was being held was challenging, Barranco said.
“It’s very hard,” Barranco said. “To find him, we wouldn’t have known where he was if over the phone call he didn’t tell us what the address was.”
In video of the weekend arrest, a federal agent was seen punching Narciso Barranco, who has lived in the United States for more than 30 years, when he was pinned to the ground.
He was working a landscaping job outside an IHOP on Ritchey Street and Edinger Avenue when he was approached by Border Patrol agents. The Department of Homeland Security shared on social media Monday that Barranco assaulted a federal agent with a weed whacker as he was being taken into custody.
But his family said the longtime landscaper was trying to protect himself from pepper spray and several armed agents.
It doesn’t make me love my country any less. It makes me love it more because I see all these people standing up for people like my dad.
-Alejandro Barranco
“When he heard that, he was shocked,” Barranco said. “He never intended to hit anyone. He never intended to hurt anyone.”
Video showed Narciso Barranco running with the garden tool, but did not capture the moments before the confrontation at a busy Santa Ana intersection. The string trimmer can be seen on the ground as Barranco was taken into custody.
Barranco, who said his dad asked him to finish the landscaping job as he was being detained, said that he is not sure how long he will remain in custody. It was not immediately clear whether Narciso Barranco will face charges in connection with the alleged power tool assault. The Department of Homeland Security has declined to confirm whether a warrant existed for his arrest.
Barranco, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps, said Tuesday’s meeting was full of emotions. At first, his father hesitated to approach the window barrier and appeared to be fighting back tears, Barrnaco said.
A Southern California gardener, a father to a U.S. military veteran and two Marines, was pinned down and punched over the weekend. Hetty Chang reports for the NBC4 News at 4 p.m. on Monday, June 23, 2025.
“I was feeling very emotional, but I know how to stay strong for my dad,” Barranco said. “I told him everybody is here helping him. He couldn’t believe it. He’s staying strong, but it’s hard for him, for sure.
“He’s just a hard working guy. He’s a kind guy. Very prideful of his work. Very prideful of his kids.”
His father told him he loved him and thanked those who are helping to raise funds for legal assistance, Barranco said, adding that he told his son to sell his work truck, if he needed the money.
Barranco said the family is in the initial phase of filing for the Parole in Place program, which allowed undocumented spouses of U.S. citizens to more easily apply for permanent residency and citizenship.
Barranco said his father always knew he could be taken into custody by federal immigration authorities, but took the risk to provide for his family. Barranco’s two other sons are currently serving in the Marine Corps.
“I’m feeling very optimistic,” Barranco told MSNBC earlier Tuesday. “It doesn’t make me love my country any less. It makes me love it more because I see all these people standing up for people like my dad.”
Yliana Johansen-Mendez, chief program office at Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said families seeking someone in detention should prepare for a difficult wait. She said updates to the system used to locate detainees can take a few days.
“ICE has a website where you can type in their A number, if you know the case number, and the country that they’re from, or their name and the country that they’re from, and it will look for them in their system,” Johansen-Mendez said. “The most important thing that someone can do before they’re detained is memorize phone numbers.”
In a statement to NBCLA, the Department of Homeland Security said Monday the man was in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
“Border Patrol Agents arrested an illegal alien who tried to evade law enforcement, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. “The illegal alien ran, then turned and swung a weed whacker directly at an agent’s face. He then fled through a busy intersection and raised the weed whacker again at the agent. The illegal alien refused to comply every step of the way—resisting commands, fighting handcuffs, and refusing to identify himself. The agents took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that prioritizes the safety of the public and our officers. He is now in ICE custody.”