Overview
- Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen and construction worker, says agents twice dismissed his REAL ID and detained him during Alabama worksite operations in May and June.
- In a motion filed this week, Venegas asks a federal judge to certify a class and issue a preliminary injunction halting construction-site raids while the case proceeds.
- The suit alleges agents entered private, posted sites without warrants and focused on Latino workers, claims that federal officials have not addressed in detail in the filings.
- DHS has rejected allegations of racial profiling as categorically false, while ICE did not provide comment to AL.com; federal agents have asserted Venegas interfered with a lawful arrest, a characterization his filing disputes.
- The complaint proposes classes for warrantless entry, preemptive detention and continued detention, cites additional incidents involving lawful workers, and references reporting that more than 170 citizens have been held during raids or protests.