Washington, DC — There are many reasons why the majority of Americans think the Trump mass deportation agenda has “gone too far.” This includes the growing number of incidents nationwide of U.S. citizens being targeted by the administration’s violent detention and deportation dragnet. This includes recent disturbing video footage in South Florida, home security footage from Louisiana and increased attention to the sheer volume of Americans being ensnared.
According to Vanessa Cárdenas, Executive Director of America’s Voice:
“Armed, masked men in unmarked cars with no warrant or identification should not be part of American law enforcement, particularly when they are in the business of targeting American citizens. In story after story, we are increasingly seeing brazen, violent chaos by undertrained and hyped-up immigration agents who are targeting, chasing and detaining American citizens alongside hardworking immigrants. These deliberately aggressive pursuits are not just gross violations of constitutional rights and protections, but a deeply disturbing glimpse of the way the mass deportation agenda is being pursued across America. More ominously, it reflects what is is still to come – an out-of-control agenda that violates core values of our nation”
Among the recent attention to U.S. citizens being targeted include:
- Miami Herald, “Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders.” A U.S. citizen in medical scrubs who was “forcibly yanked from her car while on her way to work in Key Largo,” despite repeatedly saying she was a U.S. citizen, told the Herald, “she had obeyed the federal agents’ commands to roll down her window and the story immigration officials told was ‘completely false.’ … ‘Before I could even reach for my driver’s license, the individuals surrounding my vehicle threatened to break my window, creating fear and pressure instead of allowing me a moment to comply. Their tone and actions made it extremely difficult to remain calm or feel safe. … “I want to make something absolutely clear: This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent. I refuse to allow anyone — identified or not— to violate my rights or strip away my dignity.'”
- New Orleans CBS affiliate WWLTV: “‘It’s attempted kidnapping’: Video shows masked agents chase US-born woman back to her Marrero home.” A local woman, Jacelynn, who was born and raised in the New Orleans area reflected on the aftermath of the viral video from her home security camera, which featured federal agents chasing her as she fled into her home. She said, “I got spooked by how fast they pulled up … Two people came out, and they were like ‘Ma’am, ma’am, come here, please,’ and I kept yelling at them saying, ‘I’m legal! I’m a U.S. born citizen! Please, leave me alone! I’m going home, my daughter is in the house. My baby is waiting for me!’”
- Washington Post, “The U.S. citizens getting caught in Trump’s immigration crackdown,” notes, “In Chicago and elsewhere, Latino U.S. citizens and lawful residents describe being detained for hours, and in some cases, days. Others were not detained, but say they were assaulted because of the color of their skin.” … “Dayanne Figueroa, who was born and raised in the U.S., had been driving to her job as a paralegal for a marketing company on the morning of Oct. 10 … Figueroa was held for four hours and released without charges. She had recently undergone kidney surgery, and said she was hospitalized after her detention. She sustained bruising and a urinary tract infection she believes was brought on by the conditions in which she was held. She said that was just the beginning of her odyssey. DHS’s remarks, she said, sparked a wave of online misinformation and backlash. She does not believe she would have been written off as a violent agitator if she were a White woman, and she has wrestled with that. ‘I love my country very much,’ Figueroa said. ‘And I also love my roots and my culture and my community. And I have to protect both … We can’t just sweep this under the rug like it never happened, like it doesn’t matter. Then it didn’t happen.’”
Resources and Reminders
- Watch or attend Tuesday’s bicameral Capitol Hill forum, “Testimony from Five U.S. Citizens Assaulted, Illegally Detained by DHS.” On Tuesday at 3 PM, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) will hold a “bicameral public forum to receive testimony from five U.S. citizens who have experienced unconstitutional detentions by agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).” Watch a livestream of the hearing here and find more details on the hearing here.
- Read the America’s Voice fact sheet, “Americans Under Attack: A Rising Number of U.S. Citizens Are Being Wrongfully Detained in Trump’s Deportation Crackdown”
