Controversy Explodes as Man Shot At by ICE Agents Is Finally in Custody Weeks Later

San Bernardino, CA – Weeks after a harrowing incident where immigration agents allegedly fired shots at him, Jose Armando Macias has been taken into custody, a development that has ignited a storm of protest from immigration rights advocates.

The controversy first erupted on August 12, when U.S.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were reportedly involved in a shooting incident targeting Macias in San Bernardino. While ICE declined to confirm that shots were fired, they acknowledged an encounter where an individual “resisted arrest.” However, activists from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice paint a far more alarming picture, asserting that Macias, an unarmed father of two U.S.

citizen children, was shot at multiple times by federal agents.

Macias's apprehension on August 29 has only amplified the calls for justice and transparency. According to activists, Macias was initially taken into custody by local San Bernardino Police Department officers following a domestic dispute call—a separate incident entirely.

It was during this local custody that he was reportedly transferred to ICE, a move that critics decry as a troubling collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration agencies.

ICE, in its statement, confirmed Macias’s arrest, identifying him as an “at-large criminal alien” who was a target of their August 12 operation.

They also noted that Macias has an outstanding deportation order from 2002. This official stance, however, does little to quell the outrage among community organizers and legal advocates who argue that the circumstances surrounding both the shooting and his subsequent detention are deeply concerning.

The Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice and other allied groups are demanding a full, independent investigation into the August 12 shooting incident, questioning the use of force by federal agents.

They are also vociferously calling for Macias's immediate release, emphasizing his ties to the community through his U.S. citizen children and arguing that his detention undermines public trust and due process.

As the legal battle unfolds and protests continue to mount, the case of Jose Armando Macias has become a flashpoint in the ongoing national debate surrounding immigration enforcement, the use of force by federal agencies, and the rights of undocumented individuals within the United States.