Federal Immigration Dragnet Expands, Snares Willits Soccer Coach
Otis Ffriend, a professional soccer player from Jamaica, is the son of an American citizen
This story has been updated with reporting by our partner Redheaded Blackbelt and with additional information about the “withholding of removal” status (May 5, 2026, 11:26 a.m.)
Otis Ffriend was at Willits Charter School on Friday, where he coaches soccer, when he received a call that federal immigration agents wanted to conduct a compliance check.
Ffriend, 39, had undergone similar checks since receiving permission to remain in the United States in 2024, when he came to live with his cousin. Although it was unusual for agents to show up in Willits, he was not initially concerned.
His immigration status — known as “withholding of removal,” including protections under the Convention Against Torture (CAT) — is a form of relief granted to individuals who can demonstrate it is more likely than not they would face persecution or torture if returned to their home country, which in Ffriend’s case is Jamaica.
“It’s a higher standard than asylum,” said his cousin, Colby Friend, an attorney and candidate for Superior Court judge in the June primary.
The limits of protection
However, individuals with withholding status can still be deported to a third country willing to accept them, according to the American Immigration Council. In Ffriend’s case, a family member said, federal authorities identified St. Kitts as a potential destination.
Kilmer Armando Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, received “withholding of removal” status in 2019 due to his testimony about being a victim of gang violence. In March 2025, Abrego Garcia deported to his native El Salvador, in violation of his protected status, where he was initially held in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
The Trump administration later described the deportation as an administrative error. Abrego Garcia was returned to the United States, where he was charged with human trafficking. The administration has also sought to deport him to Liberia. The case is ongoing.
After receiving the call, Ffriend left campus and headed to his cousin’s home, where he has been staying. Before he arrived, he was stopped by federal agents.
Allegations of abuse of force
According to Colby Friend, agents tackled Ffriend and slammed him into a fence during the arrest. Ffriend called out for his cousin, who came outside and witnessed the encounter.
Friend said he repeatedly asked agents what Ffriend had done wrong and requested to see a warrant. He said he was eventually shown an administrative warrant after Ffriend had already been taken into custody.
“He hadn’t done anything wrong,” Friend said he was told. “It was just a piece of paper.” The paper lacked the accompanying affidavit that would normally accompany an arrest warrant.
In response to questions from Redheaded Blackbelt, ICE issued a statement: “Ffriend entered the United States illegally at an unknown time and place and has a final order of removal issued by an immigration judge in 2024.”
Colby Friend disputes this account. Colby told Redheaded Blackbelt ICE’s claim that Ffriend’s entry time and place are unknown is inaccurate. “They know, because he walked in, they put him on a bus and drove him to a detention center,” Colby said. “That’s all part of his paperwork.”
Colby said that Ffriend crossed the southern border without prior authorization in 2022 to seek asylum — as allowed by U.S. and international law. He was detained by border authorities, held in a detention facility in Arizona, bonded out for $10,000 by his family, and began immigration court proceedings while living in the U.S.
A year and a half later, he was granted the cumbersomely-named legal status — “withholding of removal.”
Ffriend got a job at a local charter school in Willits, where he coaches youth soccer, referees matches at multiple levels, and plays in the Mendocino County men’s league. Colby said he has won the MVP award every year since he arrived.
There was no reason to be concerned when he received the call from immigration in the morning of May 1, until he was roughly confronted by a group of agents.
Confusion and fear
The confrontation was videotaped, and word spread quickly through Willits. An informal group of citizens that call themselves the Rapid Response Network began releasing updates that withheld basic information, including who was arrested, where they were arrested, and why.
Willits Unified and Willits Elementary Charter School sent tersely word messages to parents that ICE has been reported to be in the area. The schools also did not issue any official statements.
Mendocino County Sheriff Matt Kendall tried to reassure people — he told MendoLocal.News that he had no confirmation that the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency was in the county. A local personality would later accuse the sheriff of spreading misinformation, which is information that is spread to deliberately mislead.
Kendall says when it comes to informing people about ICE activity, his hands are tied.
In an interview Monday, he pointed to California’s SB 54, the California Values Act, which prohibits local law enforcement agencies from using their resources to investigate, detain, or arrest people for immigration enforcement purposes. He said that has shut down federal and local interagency coordination.
Kendall says that he has urged ICE to make a PIO available to field calls from the public.
The fog of immigration enforcement
Working quickly and with support from members of the Rapid Response Network, Friend contacted an immigration attorney, who filed a writ of habeas corpus that same afternoon, challenging the legality of Ffriend’s detention in federal court. Such filings have become increasingly common; 18 habeas petitions were filed in California federal courts on May 1 alone, including Ffriend’s case.
Ffriend’s attorney, Nicole Gorney, also filed a request for a temporary restraining order. The order was granted Saturday by U.S. District Judge William H. Orrick.
Friend said that without intervention, his cousin likely would have been deported.
“He would be in St. Kitts with no money, no phone, no change of clothing,” Friend said.
Ffriend has since been released and has returned to Willits. A federal court hearing is scheduled for May 14.
The incident appears to be Willits’ first high-profile encounter with the expanded federal immigration enforcement efforts under President Donald Trump’s current policy framework.
Friend also addressed reports circulating on social media that Ffriend may have been targeted based on his last name.
“We were told that,” Friend said, referring to a claim that agents were working alphabetically. “But I don’t literally believe that’s true. Wouldn’t ICE be working on A, B, C in Mendocino County?”
Court filings from May 1 show habeas petitions filed on behalf of immigrants with last names spanning the alphabet.
What does appear clear is that federal enforcement priorities have broadened beyond individuals with criminal convictions to include immigrants who may be vulnerable to removal for technical or administrative reasons — including those from mixed-status families, like Ffriend, who is the son of an American citizen, but born outside the country.
Correction: Typo fixed in headline, “snars” changed to “snares” (May 4, 2026, 9:29 p.m.)
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Thank you for your thorough reporting.
Waste of tax dollars which provides no benefit to anyone; only hardship.