Federal Immigration Dragnet Expands, Snars Willits Soccer Coach
Otis Ffriend, a professional soccer player from Jamaica, is the son of an American citizen
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.
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.
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.
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.”
Working quickly and with local support from a group that calls itself 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.