There’s a quiet split among the MAGA faithful. Most say they only support deportation for the “illegals,” assuming your definition of illegals includes anyone with an Hispanic name, accent or appearance who is not a citizen. Then there are those who don’t care about such niceties as citizenship, and just want them all gone because they aren’t “heritage Americans,” basically white Christians of European heritage, even if they were the dreaded Irish or Italian immigrants of last century.

As far as Immigration and Customs Enforcement is concerned, such details as citizenship aren’t their problem. Leo Garcia Venegas found that out. Not once. Not twice. But three times.

What makes the incident extraordinary is that Venegas is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit challenging DHS’ immigration enforcement policies, and it was the third time he’s been handcuffed and detained by ICE agents. Venegas was detained twice in 2025 during raids on private construction sites where he was working, even though he had a REAL ID identifying him as a U.S. citizen.

In Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s fevered fantasy, the dreaded “Kavanaugh stops” were barely an inconvenience for citizens, who might be asked to prove their citizenship even though citizens are not required to do so, and once ICE realized that the person with the dark skin and accent was American, would tip their face mask and apologize for the inconvenience. Somehow, it didn’t work out that way on the street.

The Institute for Justice, a libertarian-leaning public-interest law firm, filed a class-action lawsuit last October on behalf of Venegas and other construction workers seeking to stop “dragnet raids” that target Latinos without any probable cause besides their ethnicity. Venegas and the Institute for Justice argue that DHS policies allow immigration agents to illegally raid private construction sites, detain workers without reasonable suspicion, and continue detaining them even after they offer evidence of citizenship or legal status.

Jared McClain, an Institute for Justice attorney, says that Venegas’ third detention “shows that federal officers are enforcing immigration laws in the unconstitutional way we alleged in our lawsuit.”

“It’s arrest first, ask questions later,” McClain continues. “These aren’t the brief investigatory stops based on individualized suspicion that the Supreme Court has allowed.”

It’s hard work to figure out who is not here legally and then locate the person and seize him. It’s much easier to just round up everybody who looks Hispanic, sounds Hispanic or has a Hispanic name, throw them into the unmarked van in cuffs and let facial recognition technology sort it out. And if the tech got it wrong, there’s always one of the remaining immigration judges who have sworn fealty to Trump sort it out later.

“Still without asking me a single question or issuing any lawful commands, the officers pulled me out of my car, tackled me to the ground, and shackled me around both my arms and legs,” Venegas’ declaration said. “The officers did not listen when I said I was a citizen and they showed no interest in looking at my Alabama Star ID, even though it is a REAL ID issued only to people who can prove their lawful status.”

Venegas had been taken from a car registered to his brother in one instance, they nonetheless refused to consider that he was a citizen based on his REAL ID.

The Institute for Justice argues that DHS has a standing national policy of preemptively restraining suspected illegal immigrants and refusing to treat any government-issued IDs as valid evidence of lawful status during these immigration stops.

Indeed, a DHS official said in a declaration filed in Venegas’ suit last year that “REAL ID can be unreliable to confirm U.S. citizenship.” In a court filing in response to DHS, the Institute for Justice noted how incredible this position is. “REAL IDs require proof of citizenship or lawful status,” the Institute for Justice wrote. “DHS is the very agency responsible for certifying that REAL IDs, including Alabama’s STAR IDs, satisfy this requirement.”

He was released that time after about 15 minutes, when facial recognition confirmed that he was a citizen. DHS didn’t see any problem here.

In response to a request for comment, DHS appeared to deny that Venegas was ever detained by the ICE officers.

“Leonardo Garcia Venegas was NOT detained last week,” a DHS spokesperson said in a statement. “On Saturday, May 2, ICE conducted a routine vehicle stop on a car registered to an illegal alien. After Venegas’ identity was established, he was released.”

Even worse, DHS was not amused at the allegation that it engaged in racial profiling.

The DHS spokesperson also called allegations that it engages in racial profiling “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.”

“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S.—NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity. ICE has authority for lawful arrests under 8 USC 1357,” the statement continued. “DHS is NOT arresting U.S. citizens by mistake. DHS enforcement operations are highly targeted, and officers do their due diligence. We know who we are targeting ahead of time. If and when we do encounter individuals subject to arrest, our law enforcement is trained to ask a series of well-determined questions to determine status and removability.”

After the Institute of Justice sued on Venegas’ behalf for the first two wrongful arrests, you’ll never guess how DHS proved its point that they don’t arrest US citizens by mistake.

In a declaration filed in federal court, Leo Garcia Venegas said he was parking in front of his house in Silverhill, Alabama, on the morning of May 2 when an unmarked SUV blocked him in. Venegas claimed that before he could hand his Alabama-issued REAL ID to the two federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who approached him, they pulled him out of the truck he was driving and handcuffed him.

Third time was not the charm.