Featured Stories

Jason Brian Gavidia

Jason Brian Gavidia is a 29-year-old U.S. citizen born in East Los Angeles who runs an auto body shop in Montebello, California. During a Border Patrol raid at his workplace, masked agents twisted his arm and pinned him against a fence while questioning his citizenship, asking him to name the hospital where he was born. Although he repeatedly stated he was American and offered identification, agents confiscated his driver’s license and phone before eventually releasing him. The encounter, captured on video, left Gavidia shaken as he witnessed armed agents target Latino workers in his own community despite his lifelong residency and citizenship.

Cary López Alvarado

Cary López Alvarado is a 23-year-old U.S. citizen born in Los Angeles who was doing maintenance work at a private building when she was detained by federal immigration agents in Hawthorne, California. She was nine months pregnant and already in labor when agents handcuffed her and held her for more than eight hours with a chain around her belly, despite her repeatedly stating that she was an American citizen and asserting that agents needed a warrant to enter the property. After her release, she went directly to the hospital, where doctors confirmed she was experiencing contractions every two minutes, and she later gave birth to her daughter. López Alvarado was released without any citation, while her partner was detained and later deported, leaving him unable to meet their newborn.

George Retes

George Retes is a 26-year-old U.S. citizen, Army veteran, and Iraq combat veteran born and raised in Ventura, California, who works in private security for agricultural farms. During a federal immigration enforcement operation in July 2025, Retes was tear-gassed and dragged out of his car by ICE and Border Patrol agents despite being a U.S. citizen. He was forcibly restrained with officers kneeling on his neck and back and held in jail for three days without being told what he was charged with. He was later released with all charges dropped and no explanation or apology. Retes has since spoken publicly and testified before lawmakers, arguing that his case exposes how U.S. citizens can be wrongfully detained by federal agents with little ability to seek accountability under current law.

Leonardo Garcia Venegas

Leonardo Garcia Venegas is a 25-year-old U.S. citizen born in 1999 in Lehigh Acres, Florida, to parents who are Mexican nationals. When he was 14, his family moved to Robertsdale, Alabama, where he attended high school and has lived since. After graduating in 2018, he began working in construction, starting as a bricklayer and mason and later laying concrete for new homes. In 2025, Garcia Venegas was detained twice by federal immigration agents during raids on private construction sites in Alabama, where masked and armed agents entered without warrants and targeted Latino workers. Despite repeatedly stating that he was a U.S. citizen and showing his REAL ID, he was tackled, handcuffed, and held before being released without charges. He is now suing the federal government, alleging unconstitutional detention, warrantless entry, and racial profiling.

Arturo Hermosillo

Arturo Hermosillo is a 36-year-old U.S. citizen born in Sylmar, California, and raised in Van Nuys. On June 19, he was detained after filming a federal immigration raid at a shopping plaza in Pacoima while sitting in his work van. Disturbed by the sight of a neighborhood tamales vendor lying on the ground, Hermosillo began recording Border Patrol agents detaining people outside a Lowe’s. After agents told him to move his vehicle to make room for an ambulance, he said he complied but was then forcibly removed from his van, grabbed by the neck and body, thrown to the ground, and handcuffed, as shown in bystander video. He was taken to a Department of Homeland Security facility in downtown Los Angeles and later released, though officials told him he was under investigation for allegedly interfering with federal agents and warned he could face federal charges.

Andrea Velez

Andrea Velez is a 32-year-old U.S. citizen born in Los Angeles who works as a footwear merchandiser. She was wrongfully arrested during an ICE raid in downtown Los Angeles while on her way to work. Masked agents in unmarked vehicles knocked her to the ground and detained her despite her repeatedly stating that she was a U.S. citizen, later handcuffing her and placing her in an unmarked car. When she managed to run to nearby LAPD officers for help, ICE agents seized her again, with one officer shouting, “She’s mine,” before carrying her back into custody. Velez spent two nights in jail and was charged with a felony for allegedly obstructing an officer, a charge the Justice Department later dropped. She has since filed legal claims alleging false arrest and civil rights violations.

Job Garcia

Job Garcia is a 37-year-old U.S. citizen born and raised in Los Angeles, California, who is a Ph.D. student, photographer, and delivery driver. He was arrested after filming an ICE raid at a Home Depot in Hollywood, California. While recording agents detaining day laborers, Garcia was tackled to the ground by masked federal agents, pinned with knees on his back and pressure on his neck, and arrested despite not resisting and despite later confirming his U.S. citizenship. He was held in custody for more than 24 hours, transferred through multiple facilities, and released without arraignment or charges. Garcia has since filed legal claims alleging false arrest, excessive force, racial profiling, and violations of his First and Fourth Amendment rights.

Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio

Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio is an 18-year-old U.S. citizen born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, who works as a landscaper. He was detained by Border Patrol agents after a traffic stop while riding in a work van with his mother and two friends, whom officers determined were undocumented. Laynez-Ambrosio secretly recorded the encounter, which shows law enforcement officers in tactical gear violently detaining the men, using a stun gun on one of his friends, and telling Kenny, “You’ve got no rights,” despite his repeatedly stating that he was born in the United States. Kenny was pushed to the ground, threatened with a taser, and held for several hours at a Border Patrol facility. Prosecutors later declined to pursue charges against him, citing insufficient evidence.

Renée Nicole Macklin Good 

Renée Nicole Macklin Good was a 37-year-old U.S. citizen born in Colorado Springs, Colorado and a mother of three who had recently moved to Minneapolis from Kansas City, Missouri, with her wife and their 6-year-old son. In social media accounts, Good described herself as a “poet and writer and wife and mom.” On the morning of January 7, 2026, after dropping off her youngest child at an elementary school, Good was shot and killed while driving in South Minneapolis during a large federal immigration enforcement operation. Federal officials said the ICE officer fired in self-defense after alleging Good tried to run over officers; Minneapolis officials and protesters disputed that account, pointing to bystander video and calling the self-defense claim unjustified. Good was later remembered by family and neighbors as compassionate and devoted to caring for others.