US citizen blasts ICE after being detained as he drove to work: ‘They're the criminals'
A New Yorker who was stopped and detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents says he was treated like a criminal for simply existing as a Hispanic person in the U.S.
"[ICE] said that they're looking for criminals, but in reality, they're the criminals," Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old from Brentwood, told reporters during a Thursday press conference.
Lemus, an electrician, was riding in the passenger seat of a car on his way to work when ICE agents stopped the vehicle in Westbury, New York. The ICE agents reportedly said that Lemus "looks like somebody we are looking for."
He asked "who are you looking for exactly, because it's definitely not me." Much of his interaction with ICE was captured on cellphone video.
After the car was stopped, Lemus says he was surrounded by ICE and Homeland Security Investigations vehicles. The agents then threatened him and demanded his ID.
'This is going to go one of two ways here. I need to see your ID — if you're not the guy I'm looking for, you're not the guy I'm looking for. But we need your ID," the ICE agent says in the video.
Lemus said he demanded the agents' name and badge number, but they refused to provide any identifying information, claiming they were "not authorized" to do so.
"I told them that I'm not authorized to give my ID then," Lemus said.
An ICE agent threatened him again.
"If we don't get your ID we are going to need to figure out another way to ID you and that may not work out well for you," the agent said.
Lemus was then placed in handcuffs for refusing to provide identification to the ICE agents. He said he was hesitant to cooperate because he hadn't committed any crimes, and he knew the federal agents were not local police, NBC 4 reports.
"I didn't want to get my ID because as soon as I saw how they were dressed, I knew they weren't police officers. I didn't commit a crime and wasn't driving," he said.
The ICE agents allegedly left Lemus in cuffs for 20-25 minutes, and confiscated his phone to prevent him from filming them. They eventually found his ID in his pockets.
"It was heartbreaking … it felt like my rights were just out the window," Lemus said.
Lemus' attorney is calling ICE's alleged harassment a breach of his client's federal civil rights.
"This is not America. This is not how we as Americans should have to live. This is not how this young man, as a young Hispanic man going to work at 7:30 in the morning, needs to be greeted at the beginning of his day," attorney Fred Brewington said.
The attorney said ICE can't just "randomly, on a hunch, stop people," calling it "contrary to the Constitution."
New York State Assemblyman Philip Ramo, a former police detective, also weighed in and demanded an investigation. He labelled the incident as racial profiling.
Lemus and his attorney are calling for a full investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. They have not filed a lawsuit at this time.
The incident left Lemus fearful about future potential encounters with federal agents based on nothing more than his ethnicity.
'It felt like I lost all rights when they pulled me over," he said. "I felt like I had nothing anymore, Felt like they stripped my rights, I was honestly shocked."
The Independent has contacted ICE for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
38 minutes ago
- The Hill
Mary Trump slams ‘extraordinarily dangerous' attacks on Mamdani
Mary Trump, the president's niece, slammed right-wing attacks on Zohran Mamdani, the winner of New York City's Democratic mayoral primary, calling them 'extraordinarily dangerous' on SiriusXM host Dean Obeidallah's Friday show. 'It is not going to stop here. It's going to get worse,' Mary Trump said in response to a question about comments by President Trump and others attacking Mamdani, who would be the city's first Muslim mayor if elected. The president derided Mamdani, a democratic socialist, as a '100% Communist Lunatic' on Wednesday. 'This is not the first time that President Trump is going to comment on myself, and I encourage him — just like I encourage every New Yorker — to learn about my actual policies to make the city affordable,' Mamdani responded. Other influencers and lawmakers in the MAGA ecosystem have gone even further, often playing on Islamophobic tropes. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) called on Mamdani, who became a U.S. citizen in 2018, to be denaturalized and deported. The president's son Donald Trump Jr. and conservative influencers Charlie Kirk and Laura Loomer have connected his election victory to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Mary Trump, who lives in New York City, condemned attacks against Mamdani as 'anti-Muslim bigotry.' Mamdani has spoken openly about receiving violent threats throughout his campaign. The New York City Police Department investigated an alleged car bomb threat against him in early June, and his campaign hired security during the primary in response to an uptick in threats against him.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump Demands Republicans Crack Down on Nonprofits That Protest ICE
President Donald Trump voiced support Saturday for new legislation aiming to punish groups linked to the June protests in Los Angeles against the administration's aggressive immigration raids and arrests. The legislation, offered by Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), would make nonprofits involved in supposedly 'organizing the riots' ineligible for federal funding or tax-exempt status. At the center of the proposed bill is an immigrants rights group based in L.A. that denies any wrongdoing and says the accusations are false. 'CONGRESSMAN KEVIN KILEY'S, 'NO TAX DOLLARS FOR RIOTS' legislation, should be passed immediately,' Trump posted on Truth Social on Saturday. 'I am hereby instructing my Administration not to pay ANY money to these radicalized groups, regardless of the legislation. They get paid to incite riots, burn down or destroy a city, then come back to the trough to get money to help rebuild it. NO MORE MONEY!!!' The text of the bill has not been publicly released. Kiley framed the protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a threat. 'The violence we have witnessed in Los Angeles is a threat to the safety of our communities and federal officers, and it undermines democracy by obstructing the policies of a duly elected president from being implemented.' Kiley said in a statement. 'We need better tools to deter and punish this lawless and anti-democratic behavior.' The anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles began this month in response to the Trump administration's campaign of worksite immigration raids and courthouse arrests, which is reportedly being conducted at the demand of White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Authorities have used flash-bang grenades, rubber bullets, and pepper balls on protesters, who have largely been non-violent. Trump used the protests as the basis for federalizing and deploying thousands of National Guard troops as well as hundreds of Marines. 'We have the IRS here that's helping us track how these violent protesters are funded,' Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said. 'What NGO is out there? What unions? What other individuals may be funding these violent perpetrators?' Kiley argues the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA) 'played a pivotal role in enabling the riots.' He alleges that the group broadcast federal officers' locations in real-time, and that several of the officers were assaulted with bricks and Molotov cocktails. Two people were charged with possession of Molotov cocktails, but there is no evidence they were tied to CHIRLA. 'They're saying the most vicious lies [about] who we are and what we do,' CHIRLA's Executive Director Angélica Salas told CBS News. 'My bill,' Kiley said Thursday on the House floor, 'will assure that an organization like this whose officers are convicted of assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers, or of organizing, promoting, and encouraging participating in or carrying on a riot… loses their nonprofit status and is ineligible for federal funding going forward,' Earlier this month, Sen. Josh Hawley, (R-Mo.), who is chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Crime and Counterterrorism, launched an investigation into CHIRLA's 'alleged role in financing and materially supporting the coordinated protests and riots' in Los Angeles. 'While peaceful protest is a cornerstone of American democracy, these demonstrations have escalated into lawless mob actions,' he wrote in a letter to the organization demanding more information. He noted that CHIRLA reportedly 'received $34 million in state funding.' Their 2023 tax return shows they received this amount in government grants. The organization previously had a $450,000 contract with the Department of Homeland Security for 'citizenship education and training.' DHS said it terminated this contract and intended to withhold $101,000 in funds that had not yet been paid to the group. 'Credible reporting now suggests that your organization has provided logistical support and financial resources to individuals engaged in these disruptive actions,' Hawley said. 'Let me be clear: Bankrolling civil unrest is not protected speech. It is aiding and abetting criminal conduct.' Salas, who leads CHIRLA, was a speaker at a press conference on June 6, when the first protests against ICE began, but that seems to be the extent of the group's involvement. 'Our community is under attack and is being terrorized,' she told the crowd. 'These are workers, these are fathers, these are mothers, and this has to stop. Immigration enforcement that is terrorizing our families throughout this country and picking up our people that we love must stop now.' She remains steadfast. 'We categorically reject any allegation that our work as an organization now and during the past 39 years providing services to immigrants and their families violates the law,' Salas said in a statement. 'Our mission is rooted in non-violent advocacy, community safety, and democratic values. We will not be intimidated for standing with immigrant communities and documenting the inhumane manner that our community is being targeted with the assault by the raids, the unconstitutional and illegal arrests, detentions, and the assault on our First Amendment rights.' More from Rolling Stone Trump Admin Says ICE Agents are the Real Victims Amid Violent Immigration Raids Trump's Military Birthday Parade 'Illegally' Used Hit Song: Cease-and-Desist Letter Florida GOP Hawks Merch for Brutal 'Alligator Alcatraz' Migrant Detention Camp Best of Rolling Stone The Useful Idiots New Guide to the Most Stoned Moments of the 2020 Presidential Campaign Anatomy of a Fake News Scandal The Radical Crusade of Mike Pence
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Andrea Velez: U.S. woman detained by ICE after being ambushed by unmarked cars in Los Angeles
The Brief Andrea Velez, a United States citizen, was ambushed by a group of people from an unmarked vehicle, her attorneys say. Velez was detained by ICE and was charged with "obstructing an ICE officer." FOX 11 tried to contact Homeland Security, but the department could not be reached for comment before 9 p.m., June 26. LOS ANGELES - A woman who was walking to work in downtown Los Angeles got ambushed by a group of people from an unmarked car, according to her attorney. What we know Attorneys Gregory Russell and Luis Carrillo spoke on 32-year-old Andrea Velez's behalf in recalling the traumatic event. Velez ended up getting detained in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 24. Carrillo accused the Los Angeles Police Department of not saving Velez when the American citizen got ambushed by the alleged agents. "[Velez] ran to the LAPD," Carrillo recalled. "The officers… didn't give her any protection. They let the ICE people take her away." The LAPD has since said the department doesn't get involved with immigration operations, and their job focuses more on providing crowd control. Velez has since been released on bond, but was charged with "obstructing an ICE officer." The Source This report used information provided by attorneys representing Velez. FOX 11 tried to contact Homeland Security, but could not be reached for comment before 9 p.m. on June 26.
