A woman born in Los Angeles who was arrested by federal officers during an immigration raid earlier this summer told about the experience she said she had a lasting impact on her.
Andrea Velez said she was traumatized after she had been beaten on the floor by agents and had endured rough circumstances while she was in custody. She shared that she still gets flashbacks until that day and has been working from home since her release because of her trauma.
“I take things from day to day,” she said.
Velez, an American citizen, works in the center of Los Angeles as a production coordinator for a shoe company. She said that her mother and sister had just dropped her off at work on 24 June. Federal agents were present nearby.
“It was like a scene,” she said. “They were just ready to attack and chase.”
At one point, Velez said she felt a man grabbing and hit her on the floor. She tried to tell the agent, who was in normal clothes, that she is an American citizen.
“He said I interfered with what he did, so he started to arrest me,” she said. “When I asked him to show me his ID, his badge number. I asked him if he had an order and he said I didn’t have to know that.”
Velez then said officers in a detention center in the center of Los Angeles, she tried again to tell that she was an American citizen and did nothing wrong.
“They didn’t believe me, so I gave them my real ID and driver’s license and even my Kaiser disease insurance card,” she said.
The resident of Montecito Heights spent a total of two days in the detention center. She said she had not given any water for 24 hours.
After he had been released, the Ministry of Justice rejected her case with prejudice, which means that her case was temporarily closed. A spokesperson for the department refused to comment.
Velez’s lawyers are now investigating legal action against American immigration and customs enforcement and American customs and border protection.
#American #citizen #held #ice #held #water #hours