At least 4 people taken away by ICE agents in San Jose

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on Tuesday arrested at least four people in South San Jose.

The ICE agents – most of them masked – took the people away from a location on Blossom Hill Road. Agents told bystanders the detainees had judicial orders for their removal.

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San Jose police officers were called to the scene to conduct crowd control.

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Several people were seen taking out their phones as they watched on.

The Rapid Response Network was also there. A staff member told NBC Bay Area Tuesday night that legal observers saw people who were showing up for their ICE check-ins at a nearby office were being detained.

“These people have pending or have removal orders at the moment,” a Rapid Response Network staff member said. “The office is nearby and so, they had their transport van stationed here at Mountain Mikes and Jack in the Box parking lot, and they were transporting the detainees from the office to here. That's what our legal observers were seeing.”

As of Tuesday night, NBC Bay Area has not been able to confirm this with ICE. But it was confirmed that there's an office about a two minute drive from the strip mall parking lot.

While there’s not many details of the cases of the four people detained Tuesday, immigration attorney Andrew Newcomb said in many cases, when someone is ordered removed by an immigration case, they can enter an appeals response that can take more than four years.

“After which if they're deemed to be a low enforcement priority they're essentially allowed to remain in the United States with that prior order of removal as long as they do periodic ICE check-ins and there's no other red flags,” he said.

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Police said that agents requested security assistance when protesters started yelling at them. SJPD sent one lieutenant to make sure no other crimes were being committed and to remind the agents they do not get involved in immigration enforcement.

Newcomb added that if someone has a prior order of removal, it’s important to try to reopen that case because if that case remains closed and that order of deportation exists, that person can be removed from the U.S. without a right to a hearing.