The woman, who asked not to be named, said her son was working at the site when agents descended on the property. She said he called her that morning and she left work to get to him.

"Every road to get to that construction site was blocked off by police," she said. "I sat at the Circle K for three hours and watched SWAT come out. Florida Highway Patrol, ICE came out of there."

She said her son told her an agent pointed a firearm at him, and she questioned why that would be necessary given that he is a legal citizen. The account has not been independently confirmed.

The operation, first reported after a tip about a large law enforcement presence at the site, was confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security as being led by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Video from a nearby resident showed people being detained and escorted off the property. The Putnam County Sheriff's Office had earlier confirmed the ICE operation at the school construction site.

In the days since, several people have come forward saying relatives or friends were involved, but they declined to speak on the record, citing fear of retaliation.

A neighbor who lives across the street from the site, who also asked not to be identified, said he supported the operation if it targeted people in the country without legal status.

"America is big enough for people to come here the right way," he said. "But these people who are crossing the border illegally, I'm not for that at all." He added that he did not expect the operation to have a lasting effect on the community.

The mother said her son remains shaken and has not gone back to the job site. She insisted he did nothing wrong and is worried despite his citizenship status.

A request for comment to AJax, the construction company overseeing the project, was not returned. When reporters returned to the site later, the parking lot was full and workers appeared to be back on the job.

The episode has left questions in the community about how federal enforcement operations unfold at local worksites and what recourse citizens have when they are swept up in them. It also underscores the fear that can ripple through immigrant-heavy industries such as construction, where mixed-status families and citizen workers often labor side by side.

For the mother, the concern is immediate: her son, a citizen, is afraid to go back to work.