GRAND RAPIDS -- The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan says two Latino residents were illegally arrested, even though they provided their ID's.
The ACLU says that in February, Telma Valdez, who has lived in the United States for almost 22 years, and her son, Luis Valdez, a college student at Grand Rapids Community College who was born in the U.S., were stopped by an unidentified Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer. The report says the agent held a gun up, and demanded them to show identification. Both Luis and Telma, according to the ACLU, gave the agent their driver’s licenses, yet the agent still reportedly demanded them to get out of the car.
The ACLU reports that Telma was handcuffed and placed in the agent’s car, while he held a gun to her back and banged her head into the car. Luis was handcuffed as well, and both were taken to an apartment.
Throughout this ordeal, the report says that Luis repeatedly tried to explain that he was a U.S. citizen, and that his mother had a green card with her. Soon after the card was retrieved, the agents reportedly realized they had arrested legal citizens, and the two were released.
However, the ACLU says the agent told Telma that, “she risked losing her legal status if she told her story to anyone.”
The ACLU has sent in a FOIA request, asking ICE to hand over all records of the event. You can read their full report by clicking here.
The organization says, “fairness and equality are the most fundamental values we share as Americans. There's nothing fair or equal about arresting citizens because of the color of their skin. We are deeply concerned that this mother and son were victims of racial profiling. It’s imperative that we understand what led to this abuse of power and what policies are in place to protect Michigan residents.”
