Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) highlighted US citizens on his social media page after an individual said he was illegally detained by US immigration and customs enforcement (ICE) on Wednesday.
“Ice detained a US citizen in northern Virginia and painted a gun. He offered to show his ID and told the officers he was an American citizen, but they handcuffed him anyway,” Beyer said. I wrote it in my Friday post Social Platform X.
“The man is a [President] Trump voters say he is rethinking his support after targeting him as a Hispanic,” the Post continued.
Naturalized citizen Jensee Machado said he was handcuffed after being stopped by a police officer who said there was an order to expel the country for those listed under his home address.
“I voted for last year's election and thought it would be something, so you know…not all Hispanics who not only oppose criminals, but assume that we are all illegal,” Machado said. Telemund 44who first reported the story.
“That's what they're doing. They're just chasing Hispanic people,” he added.
ICE did not immediately respond to Hill's request for comment on the issue.
The Trump administration has ordered agencies to step up searches for immigrants who lack permanent status in order to carry out the largest deportation in the country's history.
Beyer is not the first lawmaker to raise concerns about detention. Last month, Rep. Jamie Ruskin (D-MD) asked ICE officials for answers after seeing an increase in reports of illegal detention.
“If you're not looking for criminals based on crimes committed, but are looking for immigrants that are not documented based on their appearance, you'll wipe out many innocent people, including innocent citizens,” Maryland Democrats said. According to the statement Retrieved by NBC News.
“We have already seen examples of racial and ethnic profiling that lead to illegal detention of American citizens, which is why we are demanding answers for some of these deep, troubling stories that we have heard about citizens being targeted, detained and questioned,” he added.
