An 18-year-old United States citizen captured the violent arrest of him and other people he was with, which showed immigration agents saying, "You've got no rights here. You're a migo, brother."
The teenager, identified as Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, was driving to his landscaping job in North Palm Beach on May 2 with his mother and two male friends. However, they were then pulled over by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Video Shows Violent Arrest Made by Immigration Officers
A highway patrol officer asked all of the people in the teenager's car to identify themselves before calling for backup, which prompted the arrival of officers with U.S. Border Patrol. A video recording showed a group of officers wearing tactical gear violently detaining the three men, two of whom are undocumented.
The officers appeared to use a stun gun on one of the men while putting another in a chokehold. After detaining the men, the officers could be heard bragging about the incident, saying the use of the stun gun was "funny" and "You can smell that ... $ 30,000 bonus," according to The Guardian.
The recording has drawn fresh criticism about the brutal tactics enforced by U.S. law enforcement officials in trying to achieve the Trump administration's ambitious targets of detaining thousands of immigrants every day.
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An attorney who is advocating on behalf of the teenager, Jack Scarola, said the federal government imposed quotas for the arrest of immigrants. Scarola, who works with the non-profit organization Guatemalan-Maya Center, added that whenever law enforcement is compelled to work towards a quota, it "poses a significant risk to other rights."
The footage also showed the initial interaction between the 18-year-old and the agents at the scene. When one officer tried to open their car door, Laynez-Ambrosio said, "Wait, hold up. You guys have no rights to do that," the New Republic reported.
The Trump Administration's Immigration Crackdown
After the detention of the people in the vehicle, the officers could be heard claiming that more individuals started to resist their arrests. This prompted the agents to anticipate more extreme uses of force in the future.
One agent said that they could end up shooting someone, referencing Laynez-Ambrosio's attempts to assert his rights. The officer continued to say, "This kid goes like ... 'No, you can't do that'; I'm not doing shit. We told you already to get out, you either get out or I'm going to pull you out."
After the incident, Laynez-Ambrosion was held in a cell at a Customs and Border Protection station for six hours before being charged with obstruction without violence. He was also sentenced to 10 hours of community service and a four-hour anger management course.
The teen claims that the men he was with did not try to resist the officers, but only spoke in Spanish and were not able to understand the agents' request. He added that his friends have been released on bail and are now waiting for their court hearings, as per Mediaite.
