They're cousins, uncles, brothers, or in-laws."We're a close community. We all kinda know each other," Carlos Gonzalez told NPR. He said that's why he was getting call after call. "My phone was just ringing." Related Story: NPRWhen he finally picked up, he said, his heart dropped. It was a friend of the family calling Friday to tell him that ICE had shown up at the Los Angeles warehouse where his older brother, Jose Paulino Gonzalez, has worked for the last 2 1/2 years.They were rounding people up.Federal agents arrested more than 40 people in workplace raids, including about two dozen employees from Ambiance Apparel in downtown LA's Fashion District. Many of those workers formed part of a close-knit community, with ties to the same indigenous Zapotec town in Veracruz, Mexico.So as soon as he heard, the younger Gonzalez threw on some clothes and rushed out toward the Fashion District.The scene was already a melee by the time he got there, he recounted. Protesters were chanting and yelling at officials who were outfitted in tactical gear, helmets and masks as they executed a federal search warrant.In an emailed statement, ICE officials wrote, "ICE and its federal partners are doing their job, enforcing immigration law and removing criminal aliens from Los Angeles communities." Forty four people were arrested in Friday's raid, ICE said.According to the statement, ICE, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service, among other agencies, assisted in carrying out the arrests for alleged "administrative immigration violations in support of worksite enforcement operations."(Administrative immigration violations include overstaying a permitted visa, entering or reentering the U.S. without proper authorization, or making false statements on immigration forms.)Amid the chaos, Carlos Gonzalez said he worked his way up to the gate and finally caught a glimpse of his brother."They had him up against a wall. Him and a bunch of other people were lined up and then I saw [officials] put chains on him and that was hard," Gonzalez said.The 22-year-old said he was close enough to see the expression on his brother's face."Most people would think that it was very stoic, very calm," Gonzalez said. "But I grew up with him and I was able to see that he was scared. … I know he was scared."In those few terrifying moments, he said, it was as if he could see that his older brother was processing the possibility that he'd have to leave behind the entire life he'd built for himself over the years.Gonzalez said he tried shouting to tell his brother he was there but the chaos around them made it impossible to communicate. So he stood there, watching as his brother and several other people he knows, were handcuffed and loaded into white nondescript vans. Related Story: NPRGonzalez declined to share how long his 35-year-old sibling has been in the United States. But he confirmed that his family, and the families of about a dozen others who were swept up in Friday's raid at the Ambiance Apparel warehouses, all come from the same small area in Veracruz, a Mexican state with a large indigenous Zapotec population.How did they all end up packaging clothes or loading and unloading boxes out of cargo containers in Los Angeles?"Word of mouth," Gabriel Vasquez told NPR in Spanish. Vasquez's brother, Jacob, was also among those arrested at the warehouse.Gabriel Vasquez explained that over the years, word has spread about the jobs available at this particular company. "Someone finds out there's an opening, and then you tell your sister or your cousin, ... and that's how my brother got his job," he said. "He heard from a childhood friend who now is also detained."Ambiance Apparel did not respond to NPR's requests for comment.Apparently the arrival of ICE and other federal agents was not entirely unexpected. Sarai Ortiz told NPR that her father, Jose Ortiz, who was also detained by ICE on Friday, had been following immigration raids in the news.Jose Ortiz was a floor manager and had been with the company for 18 years — he's been in the U.S. for 30 years. He was proud of working his way up the ladder and being a good manager. So, he made it his job to get informed, she said. He started taking Know-Your-Rights cards to work, according to his daughter. Related Story: NPR"He'd tell them to be informed and not to be afraid. He told them it was all going to be OK," she said, breaking into tears. In January, she says, he'd also made it a point to memorize her number "so that way, if his phone got taken away he could still call me. He'd have the number."She still hasn't heard from him.One of the few details Carlos Gonzalez has been able to gather keeps him up at night. He's heard from a handful of people that his brother tried to evade officials during the raid."He and some other coworkers tried to get away from it. They tried hiding. … And just knowing that he tried and failed, it hurts," he said.It makes him think that ICE officials arrived at the warehouse with a list of names, Gonzalez said. "I feel like if it's just a quick raid or just an unexpected raid, you pick up the people that you can and you leave. But considering that they made sure to get every last person, that's kind of I don't know, to me, it's suspicious. Sketchy."Their small family is devastated, he said. His mother is beside herself, and his sister, who lives with the elder, now-detained Gonzalez, is frantically trying to get information about where he is. They have lined up a lawyer, he said, who still hasn't been able to locate where Gonzalez is being held. Related Story: NPRThe same day he was arrested, Gonzalez and his sister went to the LA County Jail, where many of the people arrested by ICE are being detained. Gonzalez said they were told to come back the following day, Saturday, because several of the arrestees hadn't been processed yet. Then, when they showed up on Saturday, they were told to come back again on Sunday, for the same reason. "On Sunday they told us that they moved him to Santa Ana but we don't know where," he said.County jail officials did not respond to NPR's requests for comment.And that's where things currently stand. Gonzalez says he's afraid his brother will be moved to a detention center in Adelanto, a two-hour drive away. Or worse, that his sibling will be taken out of state.In addition to trying to track him down, Gonzalez says he and other families are trying to figure out how to get the workers' most recent pay. Friday was payday. Transcript MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: One of the ICE raids last week in Los Angeles which sparked the continuing protests was at the Ambiance Apparel company. NPR's Vanessa Romo has been talking to relatives and lawyers for some of the people detained about where they are, almost a week later.VANESSA ROMO, BYLINE: Carlos Gonzalez was asleep when the raid at Ambiance Apparel began, but his brother, Jose Paulino Gonzalez, had been at work for hours by the time ICE and the FBI and a slew of other federal officials showed up. In a panic, Carlos raced down to the warehouse in the Fashion District, where he says about two dozen workers had been rounded up and were up against a wall, including his brother, Jose Paulino. He said, looking at his face, most people would think the 35-year-old appeared...CARLOS GONZALEZ: Very stoic. Very, just, like, calm. But I'm - you know, I grew up with him, and I was able to see that he was scared.ROMO: Gonzalez said he tried shouting to tell his brother he was there, but the chaos around them made it impossible, so he stood there, watching as his brother and others were chained at the hands and feet and loaded into white, unmarked vans. ICE said in an emailed statement that they went to the warehouse to serve a federal search warrant, which they clarified by phone was connected to alleged money laundering, tax evasion and customs fraud. They said they picked up the workers for alleged administrative immigration violations in the process. Those violations can be related to overstaying a visa, entering or re-entering the country illegally, or making false statements on immigration forms. The company's lawyer, Benjamin Gluck, told NPR that Ambiance complies with all applicable laws. A lot of what Carlos Gonzalez knows about the raids come from family and friends whose relatives were also swept up.GONZALEZ: I did hear later on that him, along with other coworkers, they tried hiding somewhere. And just knowing that he tried and failed - it hurts.ROMO: About a dozen of those taken from Ambiance Apparel come from the same small area in Veracruz, a Mexican state with a large indigenous Zapotec population. Making contact with the workers over the last six days has been nearly impossible, according to Gonzalez and Sarai Ortiz. Her father, Jose Ortiz, has also been detained.SARAI ORTIZ: He memorized my phone number for this specific reason. He made it, like, a thing where it's like, I need to memorize your phone number. And he did, which is what is, like, making me anxious because I know he knows my phone number, and it's like, why is he not calling me?ROMO: At the moment, their attorney says they're being held at the Desert View Annex detention center in Adelanto, more than two hours away. ICE did not respond to confirm where they're being held. Elaina Jung Hee Vermeulen is one of the attorneys working with the Zapotec families.ELAINA JUNG HEE VERMEULEN: So far, it's been incredibly hard to access them.ROMO: In fact, she says, she's only seen one of the workers and says a different worker was already deported, according to his family, who got a phone call from him when he was released at the border. ICE didn't provide an explanation as to why legal counsel has been unable to meet with most of the Zapotec detainees, and they did not confirm how many of them had been deported. Vermeulen says another factor that may be hindering communication is the cost of actually making the calls.VERMEULEN: Families were having to pay upwards of $50 to be able to have phone calls, which is preposterous.ROMO: NPR reached out to the company that owns the detention center, GEO Group, for comment. They referred us to ICE, who did not immediately respond. Meanwhile, the families remain distraught. Gonzalez says in addition to trying to get more information about their relatives, they still haven't been able to get the workers' most recent pay. The day of the raid was payday. Vanessa Romo, NPR News.