U.s. Citizen Detained By Ice In L.a. Says She Wasn't Given Water For 24 Hours

A U.S. national who was detained by migration agents and accused of obstructing an arrest, earlier her lawsuit was yet dismissed, said she is still traumatized by what happened.

Andrea Velez was successful downtown Los Angeles connected June 24 erstwhile she was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. She was charged pinch assaulting a national serviceman while he was attempting to apprehension a suspect.

The Department of Justice later dismissed her lawsuit without prejudice. The agency did not instantly return a petition for remark connected Tuesday.

Velez, who useful arsenic a accumulation coordinator for a footwear company, recalled seeing national agents erstwhile her mother and sister dropped her disconnected astatine work.

“It was for illustration a scene,” she told NBC Los Angeles. “They were conscionable fresh to onslaught and chase.”

Andrea Velez was detained by national agents successful Los Angeles connected June 24.Union del Barrio

Velez said she felt personification drawback her and slam her to nan ground. She said she tried to show nan agent, who was successful plainclothes, that she was a citizen, but he told her that she “was interfering pinch what he was doing, truthful he was going to apprehension me.”

“That’s erstwhile I asked him to show maine his ID, his badge number,” she said. “I asked him if he had a warrant, and he said I didn’t request to cognize immoderate of that.”

A national criminal title alleged that an supplier was chasing aft a man, and Velez stepped into nan agent’s way and extended her limb “in an evident effort to forestall him from apprehending nan antheral taxable he was chasing.”

The title said that Velez’s limb deed nan supplier successful nan face.

Velez said she denied immoderate wrongdoing and insisted she was a U.S. citizen. She was taken to a detention halfway successful downtown Los Angeles wherever she gave officers her driver’s licence and her wellness security card, but she was still booked into jail.

She said she spent 2 days successful nan detention center, wherever she had thing to portion for 24 hours.

Velez said nan ordeal traumatized her, and she has not been capable to physically return to work.

“I’m taking things time by day,” she told nan news station.

Her attorneys told NBC Los Angeles that they are exploring ineligible options against nan national government.

Her communicative echoes those of others who person said they were wrongfully detained by migration agents under President Donald Trump’s push for wide deportations.

Job Garcia, a Ph.D. student and photographer, said he was tackled and thrown to nan crushed by migration agents for signaling a ambush astatine a Home Depot successful Los Angeles. He was held for much than 24 hours earlier his release. In July, nan Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said it was seeking $1 cardinal successful damages, alleging that Garcia was assaulted and falsely imprisoned.

In June, a lawman U.S. marshal was concisely detained successful nan lobby of a national building successful Tucson, Arizona, because he “fit nan wide explanation of a taxable being sought by ICE,” nan U.S. Marshals Service said successful a statement.

And successful May, Georgia assemblage student Ximena Arias-Cristobal was granted enslaved aft she was detained by migration agents aft section constabulary pulled complete nan incorrect car during a postulation stop.