As parents dropped off children at Hilltop Community Children’s Center in Pittsburgh’s Knoxville neighborhood early Tuesday, masked immigration agents sprang from vehicles and appeared to detain several men from a parking lot across the street.
Omar Millan, owner of roofing and construction company OK Service LLC, said six or seven of his employees were taken by agents from the parking lot across from the school. Three of them have since been released, he said.
The company has used the lot as a staging ground for years before heading to worksites, said Millan, a Colombian-born American citizen.
In his more than 10 years working in the United States, Millan said he’d never had any interactions with immigration agents. He said his employees were all working through the immigration process and came from Honduras, Venezuela and Colombia.
“I feel really bad for these families,” he said.
Surveillance video of the incident appears to show several vehicles abruptly pull up to the lot as agents exit at 7:50 a.m. Several of the men flee from the agents, and a chaotic pursuit begins.
Kayla Pistelli, a teacher at Hilltop, said a co-worker noticed what was happening.
Pistelli and several other teachers and staff members at the daycare went outside to record the arrests and make noise to alert neighbors, she said.
“I came outside with my whistle and just starting blowing,” she said.
The entire incident unfolded during the school’s morning drop-off period, she said.
Pistelli said she personally ushered two young students into the school as the arrests took place.
Nearby surveillance footage also appears to show a person accompanying a child with a backpack pass agents in an alley near the daycare.
Video taken by Hilltop staff show agents arresting at least one man on the ground and leading several others to a silver minivan. Most of the agents were masked and clad in green vests reading “Police.” It was unclear which agency they belonged to.
Inside the school, Director Kim Haley said she attempted to shield her students from the incident.
“I was trying to keep the children away from the windows so they didn’t see anything,” Haley said. “I didn’t know if they were going to start shooting.”
Haley said agents never attempted to enter the school, and according to Pistelli, they didn’t interact with the teachers beyond some mutual middle fingers.
Nicole Hershberger, another Hilltop teacher, said she pounded a child’s toy drum outside to alert neighbors to the arrests.
Though she didn’t anticipate Tuesday’s incident, Hershberger said she had previously prepared “ICE bags” for staff members that include a whistle, a pamphlet listing an observer’s rights and the number for immigrants rights organization Casa San Jose.
Teacher Katie Murphy said she called Casa San Jose soon after the incident began, but she stayed in a classroom with several students as events developed.
She said she later called a Latino family whose child attends the daycare to tell them to steer clear of the area and not come to school.
Still, Murphy said she was proud of her co-workers for confronting the agents and of several nearby neighbors who also emerged to observe the situation.
“Nobody felt safer after this raid,” she said. “This is not what this community wants or needs.”
Haley said she supports her teachers’ actions during the arrests.
After agents left, Hilltop staff were left to contend with a haphazard scene, according to Assistant Director Jayme Dorsey.
She said many of the work trucks in the lot were left running with doors flung open and personal effects scattered on the ground.
School staff turned off the trucks and attempted to place items like wallets back inside vehicles, Dorsey said.
Both teachers and administrators said the workers had used the lot for years, and the men had never caused any trouble.
“These are people we see everyday,” Pistelli said. “They’re part of our neighborhood.”
As the future of his business remains uncertain, Millan said he’s looking into legal help for his detained employees and potential financial aid for their families.
ICE officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.