I’m an American and was pulled over by ICE. Now I don’t go out without my birth certificate
When Texas mom Monique Ramirez realized that the police officers who pulled her over in San Antonio were, in fact, federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, her stomach dropped.
The 43-year-old mom, a U.S.-born citizen, was in the car with her 20-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter when she thought she was being pulled over for a traffic stop on Aug. 31.
“The officer appeared on my daughter’s side [of the car], and my daughter’s like, ‘Mommy?’” she recalled. “He’s asking her, ‘Are you illegal? Are you a U.S. citizen?’ And so, in that moment, you can see literally in the video where I’m like, ‘Oh, this is ICE.’”
Although the incident only lasted two minutes, with officers waving them on their way when they realized the family was American, Ramirez said it will stay with her for the rest of her life.
“It’s changed everything,” she told The Independent. “We don’t go out unless we need to. We carry our birth certificates.”
The mom, a third-generation Mexican-American, said that the agents gave no reason for pulling them over and believes that her family was targeted because of the color of their skin.
“We are from America. This is our home,” she said.
Earlier this month in Evanston, Illinois, a Black U.S. citizen was apprehended on his way to collect a prescription by federal agents in what the Department of Homeland Security said was a case of mistaken identity. Bystander video captured him being wrestled to the ground by immigration officers and he was heard screaming: “I’m a f***ing U.S. citizen!”
The man, whose name has not been released, was left bloodied from the encounter and taken to the hospital with neck and head injuries, local police said.
“The individual was given lawful commands but was not cooperative and refused to identify himself,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson, which oversees ICE, told The Independent. “ICE officers relied on their training and later left the scene without further incident once the individual finally identified himself.”
Since returning to office some 20 months ago, U.S. citizens have been caught up in President Donald Trump’s aggressive operation to try to deport immigrants.
The administration’s tactics have sparked widespread protests where some Americans, like Minnesotans Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed by federal agents. Others, like Army veteran George Retes and construction worker Leo Garcia Venegas, were detained while trying to go to work.
The government doesn’t track the number of U.S. citizens who have encountered ICE but a recent report from the civil liberties group ACLU found that 155 U.S. citizens have been detained or subjected to law enforcement misconduct, including 32 American children. The report warned that racial profiling has become “rampant” under the Trump administration.
The DHS spokesperson said that allegations of “racial profiling” are “disgusting, reckless, and categorically FALSE.”
