An Alabama man said in a lawsuit that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers detained him twice and continued holding him even after he provided proof of citizenship.
Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a construction worker in Baldwin County, alleges in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was detained twice by ICE officers in May and June because of his appearance.
“When he goes to work on private property, Leo expects the freedom, as an American, to work in peace,” the complaint reads. “Yet, twice, Leo got the opposite: Immigration officers, wielding an overly broad grant of authority but no warrant, raided the private construction sites where Leo was working and rounded up all the workers who looked Latino — even citizens, like Leo, who had done nothing wrong.”
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Alabama Southern District Court names as defendants the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple government officials including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; White House Border Czar Tom Homan and U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
According to the lawsuit, Venegas is an American citizen who was born in Florida. He moved to Alabama at age 14 and has lived in the state since then.