Federal agents arrested three undocumented individuals from Mexico and one U.S. citizen in the Santa Maria Valley on Thursday for suspected visa and labor contract fraud. 

Members of Homeland Security Investigations led the operation east of the city limits, according to a Monday news release from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

People involved in the fraud reportedly made people pay illegal fees while threatening violence if they fell behind on payments or went to the authorities with complaints, according to ICE allegations. 

Jorge Vasquez, a labor recruiter, allegedly scammed agricultural workers at JJB Farms LLC and others. The workers were in the H-2A labor visa program, a program specifically for seasonal workers in agriculture, according to federal authorities.

Vasquez reportedly worked with other people in Mexico to recruit people to apply for the H-2A visa. However, Vasquez then allegedly demanded that workers pay thousands of dollars as fees, the money reportedly coming from their wages earned working on the farm.

If recruits failed to pay the money or fell behind in productivity, Vasquez allegedly threatened to report them to immigration officials. He also reportedly threatened workers’ families to keep the employees from speaking up about their treatment to U.S. government inspectors.

That is a violation of the visa rules and federal peonage, or forced labor, laws, according to the Homeland Security Task Force. 

During last week’s federal enforcement operation, protesters clashed with officers from multiple agencies near Telephone Road and Cambridge Way, demanding to see arrest warrants.

Officials at the scene told reporters and observers that they were there for federal law enforcement reasons, and did not disclose specifics. Witnesses, including observers from 805UndocuFund, reported that 10 to 15 people were detained during the Thursday operation.

Several dozen agents were involved in the operation, and some of them deployed flash-bang grenades and tear gas grenades at protesters and observers, according to witness statements and videos.

The investigation and arrest operation involved Homeland Security Investigations, the Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service, the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General and the Homeland Security Task Force.