Immigration authorities made what appeared to be large-scale arrests next to a central Austin construction site Thursday morning, according to video posted online and witness accounts.
The arrests occurred on the 1100 block of Town Creek Drive, just north of East Riverside Boulevard, outside of the still-under-construction eight-story Grayco South Shore apartment building. A video posted by social media news outlet Reporte Austin appears to show officers arresting at least five men. Several officers were masked, and at least one wore a vest labeled Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Two Texas state troopers were seen standing nearby.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed to the American-Statesman on Friday that one of its troopers stopped a white Chevrolet van – matching the one seen in the video – around 7 a.m. for a license plate violation. After the trooper was unable to verify the driver’s identity using state databases, Homeland Security Investigations – the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s principal investigative arm – was contacted, DPS spokeswoman Sheridan Nolen said…