Flavio was getting ready with his boss one morning in August when officers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived and arrested him and two of his co-workers.
At first, they were taken in handcuffs to an area near the Pentagon, and then to a private home. Eventually, he said, he was transported to an immigration detention center.
The immigrants’ rights organizations behind the class action lawsuit accusing the federal government of engaging in a pattern of illegal arrests in Washington, D.C. since the law enforcement surge started in August, held a virtual press conference on Friday.
Flavio, an alias used for security reasons, spoke through a translator via Zoom from El Salvador. He said he came to the U.S. in 2023.
“I came looking for an opportunity to work and contribute to the community. I dedicated myself to working in construction, building patios and laying concrete,” Flavio said.
Several days after ICE officers came, Flavio was on an airplane with 200 other people, all with their hands and feet shackled as they were being deported back to El Salvador. Flavio described their treatment as “humiliating and degrading.”
He said through the translator that the hardest part was not having the chance to see a lawyer or appear before a judge.
“All we were doing was working and seeking a better future for our families,” Flavio said. “The only crime we committed was being poor and working hard for our families.”
Aditi Shah, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., said Flavio’s story is only one story of the nearly 1,000 immigrants who have been arrested in the District since the beginning of the law enforcement surge on Aug. 11.
ACLU of D.C. filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Department of Homeland Security, its director and other federal agencies, charging that federal agents are illegally and indiscriminately arresting people in D.C. who are perceived to be Latino.
“We’re seeking relief on behalf of all people who, since Aug. 11, have been arrested or will be arrested in D.C. pursuant to the government’s unlawful policy and practice of making these warrantless immigration arrests without probable cause,” Shah said.
According to Yulie Landan, the staff attorney for the National Immigration Project, the current approach to enforcement is having a deep impact on every D.C. resident.
“It’s creating a sense that anyone can be stopped and interrogated at any moment, and that your race or background or preferred language is sufficient to make that happen,” Landan said.
CASA, a local organization that advocates for immigrants, also talked about the lawsuit at the news conference.
“Masked and armed federal agents have flooded the streets of the nation’s capital, indiscriminately arresting without warrants and without probable cause,” said Ama Frimpong, CASA’s legal director. “This racial profiling is unacceptable, and it is illegal.”
Flavio added that immigrants contribute a great deal to the U.S.
“We work, we build, and we contribute with honor. I ask for respect for our dignity and our rights,” Flavio said. “Our only crime is dreaming for a better life for ourselves and our families.”
WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.
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