“I only wish to live my life in peace,” Leonardo Garcia Venegas said in a declaration.

Garcia Venegas, a 26-year-old Florida-born US citizen, said he tried to show his Alabama STAR ID as proof of status, but the agents ignored him. They put him in the back seat of one of their vehicles, questioned him about his place of birth, and searched his wallet. He offered to provide his American passport, which was inside the house, but the agents refused. Several minutes later, they released him, but not before having dogs sniff the truck for drugs, according to the declaration. Garcia Venegas said the officers told him he had been stopped because the car he was driving was registered in the name of his brother, who is undocumented. (ICE didn’t respond to a request for comment before publication.)

This wasn’t the first time ICE agents stopped and held Garcia Venegas. In fact, Saturday’s encounter marked the third such incident, according to court filings. Garcia Venegas, whose parents are originally from Mexico, had twice before been detained after ICE raided construction sites where he was working, and twice before he was let go after proving his American citizenship. This third detention, Garcia Venegas wrote in his statement, had caused him emotional distress and anxiety. “I live in constant fear that I will be subjected to further baseless detentions just for going about my daily life,” he said, adding, “I only wish to live my life in peace.”

  • Arrandee@lemmy.worldEnglish
    7·
    4 days ago

    Pay attention. You are next.

    Your personal point of view or constitutionally-protected activity are now grounds for criminal investigation that will empower various three-letter agencies to harass you like Mr. Venegas. Lest we forget the content of National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7):

    • Immigration: Those expressing “opposition to law and immigration enforcement” or supporting “mass migration and open borders”.
    • Gender and Social Ideology: Entities described as adhering to “radical gender ideology” or showing “hostility towards traditional views on family, religion, and morality”.
    • Political and Economic Beliefs: Individuals or groups associated with “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” and “anti-Christianity”.
    • Tactics and Actions: “Antifa-aligned extremists” and those allegedly involved in “organized doxing of law enforcement,” “swatting,” “mass rioting,” or “targeting of public officials”.

    If you aren’t a high-earning, conservative, heterosexual white anglo-saxon protestant taxpayer… if you have the audacity to honestly interrogate your social role and find it unsatisfactory, if you choose to fully exercise your right of self-determination, you just made the list, buddy.

    You’ll be investiagated and harassed. You’ll be marginalized and starved of resources. Conveniences and tools you take for grranted will be inaccessible, through loopholes and legal trickery that you will not have the capability to fight. They’re already hard at work:

    • Retroactive Review: Agencies must review all domestic terrorism files from the last five years to identify Antifa-related intelligence.
    • Informant Rewards: The FBI was instructed to expand its tip line and establish a cash-reward systemto incentivize reporting on fellow Americans for suspected domestic terrorist activity.
    • Focus on Nonprofits: A joint initiative between the FBI and IRS was formed to investigate nonprofit organizations, book clubs, and mutual aid networks for suspected links to domestic terrorism.
    • Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTFs): Agencies are required to refer all “domestic terrorism encounters” to JTTFs for “exhaustive investigation,” including the identification of financial sponsors and donors.

    Build up a network of mutual support. Find a way to live below your means. Do not count on the good graces of institutions. Do not expect the law or your local political people to defend your interests.