U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said a mother and son living in the United States illegally both have criminal histories amid backlash over their arrests in California last month.

The family of Yolanda Perez and her son, Jonathan Tejeda-Perez, said the pair were arrested near their home in the Los Angeles suburb of El Monte on Feb. 24. The family said that ICE agents claimed to have had a warrant but never showed them one, Fox Los Angeles reported. 

Yolana Perez’s daughter, Xitali Tejeda, told the news outlet that her mother was ambushed while moving her car for a city street-sweeping vehicle when her brother tried to intervene. Yolanda Pedrez was seen on video crying as ICE agents detained her, saying, “They’re going to take me.”

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in a federal building in downtown Los Angeles. ICE is pushing back against criticism over the arrests of a mother and son illegally in the United States. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Fox News Digital has reached out to the congressman’s office. 

An ICE spokesperson told Fox News Digital that Yolanda Perez entered the U.S. illegally at an unknown time and date. She was arrested by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in July 2005 for theft. 

Jonathan Tejeda-Perez, who also entered the U.S. illegally at some point, has multiple arrests, ICE said. He was arrested by the sheriff’s department for possession of a controlled substance, possession of unlawful paraphernalia, driving without a license in 2014, possession of a controlled substance in 2015, possession of unlawful paraphernalia, and driving without a license in 2016, ICE said. 

Tejeda-Perez was also arrested in 2017 by the Arcadia Police Department for possession of a controlled substance, the Los Angeles Police Department for property theft, and the United States Postal Inspection Service in Los Angeles for theft or receipt of stolen mail. 

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department vehicle. An off-duty LASD deputy was shot and killed by police in Fontana, California on Tuesday. (Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department)

In that case, he was convicted for theft or receipt of stolen mail.

Both mother and son are being detained pending immigration proceedings. The ICE operation was in line with the Trump administration’s edict that criminal illegal immigrants be arrested and deported.