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an American citizen in portland, oregonAccording to his lawyer, he was detained by plainclothes officers and held in the city’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building for hours before being released.
francisco miranda He was outside his workplace on the morning of October 2 when several masked agents, who did not identify themselves, approached him and told him he was “overstaying his welcome,” said his attorney, Michael Fuller. In a video captured by Miranda while in custody, he can be heard saying, “What do you mean, staying longer? I don’t know what that is.”
He told officers that he was born in California. After he objected to being detained and said he had done nothing wrong, an officer can be heard in the video saying, “We will put you in a shroud or dog you.”
Miranda was hit from behind, handcuffed and put into an unmarked vehicle, which took him to the ICE building in Portland, Fuller said. They were held there for several hours before being taken back to the workplace.
ICE and the US Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
Local news outlet Willamette Week first reported the incident.
Fuller said it was the first detention of a U.S. citizen under the pretext of being in the country illegally that he was aware of in Oregon. Similar detentions have occurred elsewhere in the country, including Alabama, Florida and Southern California,
Aggressive immigration enforcement has been central to President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Democratic U.S. Representative Janelle Bynum said she was “outraged” by what happened to her legislator. “Masked federal agents are not welcome in our state and they cannot kidnap Americans,” he said in a statement.
Fuller, who said he had a copy of Miranda’s California birth certificate, sent a tort claim notice to the Department of Homeland Security and a letter to its leader. christy callsRequesting documents and information used to justify detention. DHS oversees ICE.
“I expect ICE and senior officials to provide us with the documentation,” Fuller said. “If this really was an honest mistake that couldn’t have been avoided, we wouldn’t be going to court. Right now, we haven’t been given any answers. And so that’s all we’re asking for at this point, is just answers.”