IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Jonas Mervilus was driving through Immokalee Wednesday morning when he saw law enforcement on the side of the road, surrounding a farm bus.
"To be driving down the street and see a bus be pulled and me having to worry is a cousin in there is a brother in there is family in there. Is where the empathy and sympathy lies," Mervilus said.
The Pacific Tomato Growers bus was pulled over on Camp Keais Road. Video from Unidos Immokalee showed law enforcement vehicles surrounding the bus, and at one point, the video showed people on the ground.
Click here to see Immokalee Community Correspondent Victoria Quevedo speak with Immokalee neighbors about what they saw.
The Immokalee High School Principal sent an email to his staff to let them know that ICE agents were stationed at major intersections and pulling over buses, vans and trucks. The principal also said students were getting calls about their parents being detained.
Mervilus, who is Haitian-American, says the operation affects the entire community.
"Just seeing what's going on just really hinders a lot of growth for us, not from a physical standpoint, but from a spiritual standpoint," Mervilus said. "Immokalee is a representation of what America really means to a lot of people."
Neighbors said when they passed the buses, they couldn't help but wonder if someone they knew could have been there.
"We all have to understand, we all bleed the same color," Mervilus said.
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