ICE is grabbing citizens, defying the Constitution

DAYANNE FIGUEROA was on her way to work in Chicago last month when she drove onto a street where an immigration enforcement action was in progress.

- RAUL A. REYES GUEST CONTRIBUTOR

As she attempted to drive around the chaos, an unmarked vehicle collided with her car. Masked men jumped out of the vehicle, guns drawn and dragged Figueroa from her car by her legs. She was thrown into a minivan, taken away and held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for hours. Dayanne Figueroa is an American citizen.

Figueroa's arrest, captured in a now-viral video, illustrates the growing number of U.S. citizens caught up in federal immigration actions. These arrests and detentions violate ICE guidelines as well as the Constitution.

Figueroa's case is not an isolated incident. The nonprofit newsroom ProPublica has documented more than 170 cases of U.S. citizens, mostly Latinos, being detained at raids and protests since January.

Americans have been tackled, tased, beaten and shot by immigration authorities. Some citizens have been held without access to counsel or the ability to call their loved ones. They include a 79-year-old man who was body-slammed to the ground by agents in Van Nuys, an Army veteran in Camarillo who was teargassed before being thrown in detention for three days, and a Cal Poly Pomona grad who was knocked down by agents and spent two nights in jail.

There are likely many more cases of U.S. citizens held by immigration authorities that have not come to light. The actual numbers are unknown because the government does not release statistics about such encounters.