U.S. Citizen Detained Briefly by ICE During Stop of Truck Registered to Illegal Alien

Leo Garcia Venegas was detained for the third time on May 2 2026 in Silverhill, Alabama. An unmarked SUV blocked him while he was parking in front of his house that morning. Two federal ICE officers pulled him out of the truck he was driving and handcuffed him before he could hand them his Alabama-issued REAL ID, according to a declaration he filed in federal court.

The officers tackled Leo Garcia Venegas to the ground and shackled him around both arms and legs. He was detained for roughly 15 minutes. ICE officers then verified his identity using DHS technology and released him.

In his May 4 2026 declaration, Leo Garcia Venegas stated the officers did not ask him a single question or issue any lawful commands before pulling him out of the car. "At no point prior to physically detaining me did the officers ask me any questions about my identity, my citizenship, or my immigration status," the declaration said.

He added that the officers did not listen when he said he was a citizen and showed no interest in looking at his Alabama STAR ID even though he had it in his hand.

Leo Garcia Venegas had been driving his brother's old truck since late April 2026 because his own truck broke down. The plates remained registered in his brother's name. U.S. citizen and construction worker in Alabama.

The incident is the latest in a series of detentions for Leo Garcia Venegas. U.S. citizen and presenting a REAL ID. Leo Garcia Venegas is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit against DHS filed in October 2025 by the Institute for Justice.

The lawsuit challenges DHS policies that allegedly allow immigration agents to raid private construction sites, detain workers without reasonable suspicion, and continue detaining them after they offer evidence of citizenship. Jared McClain, an Institute for Justice attorney representing Leo Garcia Venegas, stated that Venegas's third detention shows federal officers are enforcing immigration laws in the unconstitutional way alleged in the lawsuit.

"It's arrest first, ask questions later," Jared McClain stated. He added that these are not the brief investigatory stops based on individualized suspicion that the Supreme Court has allowed. The Institute for Justice is seeking a preliminary injunction to block the DHS policies.

U.S. citizenship. DHS stated Leonardo Garcia Venegas was NOT detained on May 2 2026. DHS stated that on May 2 2026 ICE conducted a routine vehicle stop on a car registered to an illegal alien and after Venegas's identity was established he was released.

DHS stated allegations that it engages in racial profiling are disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE. , not their skin color, race, or ethnicity. DHS stated ICE has authority for lawful arrests under 8 USC 1357.

ProPublica identified at least 170 Americans who had been detained by ICE in an investigation published in October 2025. U.S. citizen and Army veteran, was tear-gassed and jailed for three days in July 2025 during an immigration raid in California.

U.S. government. In the Florida Keys last month a Customs and Border Protection officer named Bruno Cabral allegedly entered a private construction site without a warrant, drew his loaded service firearm, and put it to the head of one construction worker with physical contact.

All construction workers at the Florida Keys site were legal residents. Leo Garcia Venegas filed a declaration in federal court on May 4 2026 describing the May 2 incident.