US citizen handcuffed, detained by immigration officials after dismissing his Real ID as fake
A US-born citizen faced the fury of President Donald Trump's administration as officials wrestled him to the ground, handcuffed him and dismissed his Real ID as fake during an arrest operation to target undocumented people on Wednesday, The Guardian reported.
The incident took place in Foley, Alabama where officials arrived to arrest undocumented workers at a construction site. This is where 25-year-old Leonardo Garcia Venegas was working. Garcia Venegas was born to Mexican parents in Florida.
Garcia began filming the arrests being carried out by the officials until they knocked the mobile out of his hand and started to arrest him. The purported video showed officials wrestling him to the ground, while Garcia yells 'I am a citizen.'
According to a US news outlet Telemundo report, Garcia said that officials took out his wallet and removed the ID while calling it fake. 'They cuffed me. They put the cuffs on quite hard,' he said. Report added that four people were arrested by the authorities from the site, including Garcia Venegas's brother, who was undocumented.
Real ID, which was alleged by the officials as fake for Garcia, is the identification US citizens are required to keep and show as per the law in order to travel through airports or enter the federal buildings. Real ID is considered as a higher security form of identification.
Officials removed the handcuffs from Garcia hours later as he told them his Social Security number, which verified his citizenship. Referring to the ongoing crackdown on illegal immigrants under the Trump administration, Garcia said 'I feel really sad, honestly, and I feel a bit nervous for everything that's happening.'
Garcia's cousin, who is also a US citizen, told Telemundo they both underwent the complete process of acquiring the Real ID, undergoing 'the protocols the administration is asking for'.
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