The 23-year-old was pulled out of the van, placed in handcuffs, and detained for about 25 minutes while the agent searched him. When the agents finally found his ID confirming his citizenship, the agents let him go — without offering any explanation or apology.

A 23-year-old electrician from Brentwood is speaking out after a disturbing encounter with federal immigration agents left him handcuffed and shaken, despite being a U.S. citizen.

Elzon Lemus says he was on the job, driving in a work van with his co-worker in Westbury when they were pulled over by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The incident was recorded on Lemus’ phone.

“What’s up, guys? Can I see your ID, please?” an agent asks in the video.

When Lemus questions why they’re being stopped, the agent replies vaguely, “Cause you look like someone I’m looking for. Can I see your ID?”

Lemus continues, “Who are you looking for exactly? Because it’s definitely not me.”

The agent then warns him, “This is going to go one of two ways here. I need to see your ID — if you’re not the guy I’m looking for, you’re not the guy I’m looking for. But we need your ID.”

When Lemus continues to question why he’s being stopped the agent escalates and says “If we don’t get your ID we are going to need to figure out another way to ID you and that may not work out well for you.”

  • Ledericas@lemm.ee
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    19 days ago

    trump is looking for anyone to deport, hes trying to surpass obama dn bidens numbers.

  • teamevil@lemmy.world
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    18 days ago

    Isn’t illegally detaining folks a violation of their civil rights/freedoms? Pretty sure that one that isn’t protected by qualified immunity… fucking scum

  • Asafum@feddit.nl
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    19 days ago

    Quotas for DEI initiatives bad: no merit for chosen employees

    Quotas for ICE good: no merit for those arrested in order to meet quota…

    I know I know, you don’t logic a Magoo. There is none to be had…

    • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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      19 days ago

      The scary part is that there absolutely is logic to it. They’re still just slightly short of being willing to say that part out loud.

    • catloaf@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      That’s a great way to give then grounds to actually arrest you. Or maybe just crash your car and kill you.

  • rekabis@lemmy.ca
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    19 days ago

    “Papers, please” - just like Soviet Russia and the other Soviet-bloc countries.

    • hakase@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      You are required to show your driver’s license if you’re asked for it by law enforcement while driving in New York state.

      • halowpeano@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        Law enforcement is not permitted to randomly pull over vehicles. They provided no justification. This is clearly illegal.

        • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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          19 days ago

          Random would actually be more ethical! They obviously saw a person that was not lilly-white, and pulled him over. That’s literally policy guided by racism!

        • hakase@lemm.ee
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          19 days ago

          Cops can always find a reason to pull you over. Also, they have no obligation to tell you why they did so. 1 mph over the speed limit? Valid traffic stop. You slowly drifted from the right side of the lane to the left side? Valid traffic stop in the eyes of the law.

          Is it bullshit? Yes. Illegal? No.

          Is the driver in the OP still required to provide his license when pulled over?

          Yes.

        • catloaf@lemm.ee
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          19 days ago

          “You look like someone we’re looking for” will get them pretty far in the courts. They don’t have to tell you who that person is, but by the time you sue and you’re going through the court process, they’ll find someone on their list who looks like you so that they can say “oh yeah it was this guy we were looking for, we promise” and the case gets dismissed.

  • stoy@lemmy.zip
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    19 days ago

    “Papers, please!”

    No wait, they are not that polite…

    “Papers!”

    Wait, they didn’t even lead with asking about his papers?

    Damn…

      • FuglyDuck@lemmy.world
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        19 days ago

        That’s not a reasonable suspicion of a crime.

        Maybe being the guy that maybe did a crime isn’t good enough.

        More to the point, being undocumented isn’t generally a crime- it’s a civil offense. The majority of people are either asylum seekers or people who’ve overstayed visas, rather than entering illegally.

        Entering illegally is a misdemeanor, but over staying is not.

    • hakase@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      Yes, if you are driving you’re required by law in New York state to provide your driver’s license if asked.

      If you’re walking to work you don’t have to carry ID, and you only have to identify yourself if they have a reasonable suspicion that you’re committing a crime.

      • atzanteol@sh.itjust.works
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        18 days ago

        Edit: Holy shit y’all are insane. I knew Lemmy was an echo chamber but mass downvoting simple, factual information like this really makes me think less of you.

        Yeah, they don’t really care about facts, logic, or reason. They also don’t see how that makes them like the people they hate.

      • IamSparticles@lemmy.zip
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        19 days ago

        Yes, if you are driving you’re required by law in New York state to provide your driver’s license if asked.

        During a legal traffic stop, yes. They need a reason to pull you over, and that reason can’t be “I want to see your ID.”

        • MolecularCactus1324@lemmy.world
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          19 days ago

          All of what you said, but also, can ICE conduct traffic stops? Like only state and local police can enforce traffic laws in their own states and jurisdictions right? Maybe if it’s an interstate highway… but I would think they need a reason to pull you over and actually be able to show that they planned to enforce some traffic infraction. I doubt ICE writes speeding tickets, so I think they are breaking some law here.

          • IamSparticles@lemmy.zip
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            19 days ago

            They can’t enforce traffic laws, no. So they need some reasonable suspicion that falls under their jurisdiction, which is why I mentioned that they need evidence that an illegal immigrant is in the vehicle. Actual reasonable suspicion, not just a hunch. Just like a traffic cop can’t legally pull you over unless they actually witness you breaking a traffic law.

          • LilB0kChoy@midwest.social
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            19 days ago

            Short answer, yes they can.

            Long answer, it’s really going to depend on the state and the laws there.

            That said, common etiquette would be not to unless, as someone else pointed out, they had a very specific reason to suspect an illegal immigrant is in the vehicle. Usually, LEOs stick to their specific jurisdiction’s unless they are asked to assist in another.

            Typical federal agencies would notify and work with law enforcement, but sanctuary states have directed state and local law enforcement not to.

            They are breaking the law and violating a US citizens constitutional rights, that’s where America is right now.

            • ayyy@sh.itjust.works
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              19 days ago

              And within a hundred miles of an international airport. So basically everywhere. The 4th amendment died during W. Bush’s administration. I’ve been screaming about it since then and everyone called me a conspiracy theorist.

    • ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net
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      19 days ago

      Yes, the democracy is crumbling but at least some people will get paid.

      Profiting from dictatorship must be the most American thing ever.

      • Krudler@lemmy.world
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        18 days ago

        And?

        This is PAYDAY. Open and shut slam dunk.

        I wish my rights were this clearly violated.

        • queermunist she/her@lemmy.ml
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          18 days ago

          It’s payday… In ten years.

          Assuming the laws don’t change.

          And assuming ICE doesn’t kill him to stop the lawsuit.

          • Krudler@lemmy.world
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            18 days ago

            Your cynicism is makes impossible to have a rational discussion.

            Everything’s going to be back bite with some little sarcastic pissy remark and I just am exhausted by this kind of dialogue.

            • TJDetweiler@lemmy.ca
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              18 days ago

              It’s payday if a judge in 10 years gives a shit about constitutional violations, or if judges are still non-partisan by then. The dude also looks Latino, so his odds are even worse. I am an outsider looking in, but I wouldn’t trust that shit hole country to uphold any sense of the law after what I’ve seen over the last few weeks. Fuckin’ embarrassing mess down there.

    • Wilco@lemm.ee
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      19 days ago

      Agreed, this is a clear cut Constitutional violation. Should be worth millions.

    • k0e3@lemmy.ca
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      19 days ago

      What does “look foreign” even mean in a place like the US? I think you mean he didn’t look white enough.

  • oyo@lemmy.zip
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    19 days ago

    ICE has been directly and illegally ordered to violate the fourth amendment and are doing it every day.