A U.S. citizen detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has filed a class action suit against the Trump administration, accusing them of violating his fourth amendment rights. Leonardo Garcia Venegas, 25, was detained by ICE while at a construction job site in Alabama in May.
Lawsuit filed
Venegas had a REAL ID on him, but officers dismissed that as a fake, according to Venegas’ cousin.
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Venegas said it wasn’t until he gave officers his social security number that they let him go.
He’s now filed a lawsuit that names White House border czar Tom Homan, DHS Sec. Kristi Noem, the Dept. of Justice, the United States of America and many more as defendants.
“The officers were enforcing three policies adopted by the Department of Homeland Security that grant federal immigration officers sweeping search and seizure powers that violate the Fourth Amendment and exceed officers’ statutory and regulatory powers,” the lawsuit reads.
The Fourth Amendment protects people from “unreasonable searches and seizures.”
“As a direct and proximate result of Defendants’ deliberate, knowing, and reckless conduct, Leo has suffered violations of his Fourth Amendment rights, as well as several torts,” the lawsuit reads.
Straight Arrow News reached out to the DOJ and DHS for comment. The DOJ responded saying these inquiries will not be considered now due to the government shutdown.
“Allegations that DHS law enforcement officers engage in ‘racial profiling’ are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE,” Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary at DHS, said to Straight Arrow News in a statement. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity. Under the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, DHS law enforcement uses ‘reasonable suspicion’ to make arrests.”
Despite that claim from DHS, the Supreme Court recently cleared the way for ICE agents to use skin color or speaking Spanish as the basis for immigration stops, calling such details “the totality of particular circumstances.”
“There are no ‘indiscriminate stops’ being made,” McLaughlin said. “The Supreme Court recently vindicated us on this question.”
The six conservative justices who voted to block a federal judges order offered no explanation for their decision.
“We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job,” progressive Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent.
A federal judge had put an end to those kinds of raids, leading to the Trump administration’s appeal.
New York Times v. DHS
This all comes after Venegas’ story appeared as part of a New York Times article that the Department of Homeland Security later responded to.
The article lays out about half a dozen incidents where U.S. citizens, mostly Latino men, were detained by immigration officials despite having legal status in the country.
DHS directly responded to this article, claiming to fact-check the assertions from these citizens. Homeland Security said “DHS does not deport U.S. citizens” in their rebuttal but none of the men accused the department of deporting them or mentioned deportation.
They also said, “any claim that there are subprime conditions at ICE detention centers are false.”
That claim is refuted by numerous reports of conditions at detention centers like Alligator Alcatraz. One lawyer who has clients at the facility previously told SAN comparing that facility to a concentration camp is “not off the mark.”
In their rebuttal, DHS specifically said ICE does not go around asking people for proof of citizenship.
However, in the case of Jason Brian Gavidia, the video shows officers asking him “what hospital were you born at?” Gavidia, who was born in Los Angeles, is one of the examples used in the Times story.
In Gavidia’s case and one other, DHS claimed the men had “assaulted” officers although video does not show that.
Advocates claim the department has widely used the phrase “assault on an officer” when video does not support it.
DHS also commented on Venegas’ case in their rebuttal. They claim he “attempted to obstruct and prevent the lawful arrest of an illegal alien.”
Video of his detainment only shows officers wrestling him to the ground and does not show what led up to that moment. Venegas’ brother, who does not have legal status, was also detained.
