Immigration Agents Held a U.S. Citizen—and Veteran—for 3 Days Without Checking His ID

On Monday, United States Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh released a concurring opinion essentially blessing the use of racial profiling by the Trump administration's immigration enforcers, even as critics warned American citizens' rights would inevitably be violated.

The stops of people who are legally in the country are "typically brief," Kavanaugh asserted, "and those individuals may promptly go free after making clear to the immigration officers that they are U.S. citizens or otherwise legally in the United States."

The recent detention of George Retes shows that critics' fears may be warranted. 

On July 10, Retes—an Iraq War veteran—was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies for three days and nights despite telling officers he was an American citizen and his identification was in his nearby car. Retes, represented by the Institute for Justice (I.J.), a public interest law firm, has now taken steps to sue the U.S. government for his unconstitutional detention.

The 25-year-old was on his way to work as a security guard at a cannabis farm in Southern California when he came across an ICE roadblock. Unaware that his place of work, one of California's largest legal cannabis companies, was being raided, Retes exited his car and approached the officers, hoping to make his shift.

Retes described the scene in an interview with The Atlantic as a chaotic clash between officers and protestors. Trying to avoid conflict, he returned to his car but was unable to leave as officers began banging on the windows. Retes said the agents were shouting contradictory orders, telling him to leave the property while also attempting to open the car doors. Retes tried to comply with the confusing orders, but ended up trapped and unable to move when tear gas began filling his car. Then an officer shattered the driver-side window while another sprayed him with pepper spray, he explained.

Retes was dragged out of the car and thrown to the ground. Although he says he wasn't resisting, one agent knelt on Retes' back while another knelt on his neck.

During his three-day detention at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles, Retes was denied access to an attorney, wasn't allowed to make a phone call, wasn't presented to a judge, and was put in an isolation cell, explained I.J. Covered in tear gas and pepper spray, Retes was never allowed to shower.

Despite his pleas for answers, Retes said he wasn't told why he was being detained. "All I knew is that I was fucking taken," he told The Atlantic. "No one told me what I was there for. I thought no one knew—that I was literally gonna just disappear in there and never see my fucking kids again."

After missing his daughter's third birthday, Retes was released with no charges. Now he has taken steps to sue the U.S. government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows people to sue for false arrest and other law enforcement abuses. According to I.J., however, he must first submit claims to the responsible federal agencies. Only after the federal agencies deny Retes' claims, "either expressly or implicitly by taking no action within six months," can he file his claims in court. Unfortunately, the odds of Retes winning his case are not in his favor.

"It's bordering on impossible to get any sort of remedy in a federal court when a federal officer violates federal rights," Patrick Jaicomo, a senior attorney at I.J., told CNN.

"I'm calling out the federal government not just for what they did to me, but for what they are doing to others," Retes said in an I.J. press release. "I'm continuing to fight for this country, now as a civilian."

The whole ordeal may have been avoided if immigration officers at the scene had bothered to check Retes' identification. Unfortunately, stories like these are not uncommon and suggest that Kavanaugh's claim that federal agents will simply and calmly ascertain someone's legal status before "promptly" setting him free is more legal fiction than reality.

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