US citizens caught up in deportation dragnet

Leo Garcia Venegas was working at a construction site in Alabama when two immigration agents ran up to him and wrestled him to the ground.

"I'm a citizen. I'm a citizen," he told them. 

They didn't believe it. He was handcuffed and detained for an hour before being released -- with no apology, according to his lawyers. 

"The officers have no warrant, they didn't know who Leo was and haven't seen him breaking any laws," said Janae Wilkerson of the public-interest Institute for Justice (IJ), which partnered with Garcia Venegas in filing a class action lawsuit in Alabama last week. 

"When the officers checked Leo's Alabama-issued Real ID, they called it fake."

The incident occurred in May, in an area of Alabama where there is hot demand for new homes.

In June, it happened again.

"I was in one of the houses with headphones on. I felt someone behind me. It was an immigration agent who came through the garage," Garcia Venegas said in a video produced by IJ.

"I told him that I was a citizen. They told me I had to follow them to the car to verify whether I was a citizen or no," he said.

Garcia Venega's lawyers say the Department of Homeland Security's current policies allow agents to arrest anyone they believe may be undocumented, until they prove otherwise. 

That violates the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, which protects citizens against "unreasonable searches and seizures" and warrantless arrests.

"They arrested me twice for being Latino, for working in construction," said Garcia Venegas, a 25-year-old man born in Florida to Mexican parents. 

"I live in fear every day that when I get to work it will happen again."  

- 'Refused to comply' -

More from this section

OpenAI signs multi-billion dollar chip deal with AMD

US citizens caught up in deportation dragnet

Alzheimer's Drug Might Improve Social Functioning Among Kids With Autism

President Donald Trump has launched a crackdown on illegal immigration, saying the United States has been invaded by foreign criminals. 

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are carrying out his mass deportation operation, often armed and wearing masks.

Their activities and aggressive tactics have sparked criticism and protests. Even Pope Leo XIV has denounced the "inhumane" treatment of migrants in the United States.

In an October 1 statement, the Department of Homeland Security said Garcia Venegas was earlier detained because he had tried to prevent "the lawful arrest of an illegal alien." 

"He physically got in between agents and the subject they were attempting to arrest and refused to comply with numerous verbal commands," the statement said.

Federal agents began raiding construction sites in Alabama early this year, IJ said.

"We'll be filing a preliminary injunction next week that will ask the judge to quickly halt warrantless raids on private construction sites" in south Alabama, IJ spokesman Andrew Wimer told AFP.

- Fractured ribs - 

In California, Rafie Ollah Shouhed, a 79-year-old naturalized American born in Iran, is suing the government for $50 million after he was body-slammed during an immigration raid at his car wash in early September, fracturing his ribs, ABC news reported. 

Also in California, border patrol agents attempted to handcuff Jason Brian Gavidia, a 29-year-old Latino American, with one agent demanding to know the name of the hospital where he was born, video of the interaction shows. 

He was released, and the government claimed he had been interfering with their work at his auto body shop. 

"This is not right at all," Gavidia told The New York Times. "Latinos in general are getting attacked. We're all getting attacked."

"ICE does NOT arrest or deport US citizens," Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said. "Any US citizens arrested are because of obstructing or assaulting law enforcement."

mav/ksb/sla