ICE\CBP Unwarranted and Unjust Cuffing of People

Table of Contents
22 Examples of ICE\CBP Handcuffing and Zip Tying People Needlessly
  • Woman following ICE vehicles
    U.S. Citizen
    St Louis Park suburb of Minneapolis, MN
    Jan 13, 2026
    A woman was accosted, assaulted, threatened and mocked by ICE agents for merely filming them from her car at a safe distance.
    • Her phone was snatched from her hand by an ICE agent while she was recording him. He threatened, "have y’all not learned from the past couple of days" in reference to a woman who was recently shot and killed by an agent. Then he slammed her head into her car after which she was handcuffed and forced against an ICE truck.
    • The same agent then threatened her again with "Is this how you want to die, with a f#%king bullet in your skull?" He then grabbed her collar choking her to a point where she could not breathe.
    • Other agents showed up and forced her to the ground where one agent further intimidated by asking if she "learned her lesson." When she called him out for it, they laughed and said they were going to let her go but now changed their mind and left her crying and hyperventilating sitting on the ground in handcuffs for a while.
    • An ICE agent returned and pulled her up so forcefully that she fainted and was left flat down on the pavement without agents rendering any help. When she awoke, agents laughed and said "see, she's faking."
    • She then later fainted a second time and awoke on her side on the pavement this time with her handcuffs removed, no aid rendered again and free to go.
  • Teenage girl
    U.S. Citizen
    Mississippi
    Jan 13, 2026
    A U.S. citizen teenage girl was racially profiled, forcibly removed from a vehicle and handcuffed by agents without even asking for any documents and despite being a minor. When finally allowed to show proof of citizenship, agents cruelly "snatched the documents from her hand" as if angry they couldn't make an arrest.
  • Jose Gomez
    13-year-old boy
    Asylum Applicant
    Eden Prairie suburb of Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 11, 2025
    A 13-year-old boy was thrown to the ground, struck, handcuffed by ICE agents and taken away in a vehicle without giving any medical attention. Only after repeated insistence by his father was he released into his family's custody who took him to the hospital which the medical report stated he was a "victim of assault and battery" with "chest wall pain."
  • Susan Tincher
    U.S. Citizen
    Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 9, 2025
    55-year-old U.S. citizen Susan Tincher was detained for 5 hours for passively protesting and recording an ICE raid of 8 unmarked vehicles from a safe distance. She was thrown to the ground, needlessly cuffed, shackled, threatened with pepper spray and had her wedding ring cut off.
  • Somali woman U.S. citizen
    U.S. Citizen
    Minneapolis, MN
    Dec 5, 2025
    A Somali woman U.S. citizen was accosted by multiple ICE agents, zip-tied and detained 24 hours in Minneapolis for no reason. She was touched inappropriately and mocked with agents saying, "What could you be hiding under your hijab?" and "This would be the wrong attire to try and run away from us in."
  • Bryan
    Construction worker
    U.S. Citizen
    Baldwin Park neighborhood of L.A.
    Dec 5, 2025
    A U.S. citizen construction worker had his phone taken and handcuffed by CBP agents of which they obstinately said, "you’re being detained for your own safety."
    • They refused to say what he was being detained for and drove off with him cuffed in the back without a seatbelt.
    • They peppered him with questions and then dropped him off at some random place 10 to 20 minutes away callously tossing his belongings to the ground in the process (his wallet, ID, hat and mask).
    • There were further egregious violations of the Constitution and racial profiling.
    • Someone took video of people at the house under construction with a phone under the false pretense of using the restroom on site just 15 minutes before agents arrived.
    • They did not have a warrant and previously passed the house as if they were scouting it and then circled back indicating racial profiling was involved.
  • Fernando Vazquez
    18-year-old construction worker
    U.S. Citizen
    Cary, NC
    Nov 18, 2025
    18-year-old U.S. citizen Fernando Vazquez was racially profiled by CBJ agents who drove up to a job site in unmarked SUVs and approached him wearing masks and dark sunglasses and asked him "where are you from?" and further questioned him in Spanish. One agent ripped his AirPod out of his ear and when he tried to put it safely back in its case, the agent yelled "don't touch me" despite him not making any moves towards him. He had his North Carolina Real ID proving his citizenship, yet they handcuffed and drove him away with an agent getting angry to him further asserting details of being a citizen. Finally, they pulled into a parking lot, uncuffed him and threw his wallet and cards out the window which scattered to the ground. They did this instead of admitting their mistake, driving him back to where they took him from, personally handing him his wallet and apologizing for the inconvenience from their mistake which any respectful and decent law enforcement officer would do.
  • People at a late night venue
    San Antonio, TX
    Nov 16, 2025
    92 people were needlessly detained and handcuffed including two teenage boys during an ICE raid which appeared to use racial profiling to exceed the scope of the warrant. During the raid, they walked up to and immediately tackled a man to the ground who was simply standing by a table with his back turned. They also broke the door of a food truck that was locked and closed for the night, and an agent used an umbrella to break a security camera which recorded everything. Afterwards, the agency refused to provide answers to basic questions or evidence of claims they made supporting the raid.
  • 23-year-old woman
    U.S. Citizen
    Gresham suburb of Portland, OR
    Nov 4, 2025
    A 23-year-old woman U.S. citizen taking photos of unmarked federal immigration vehicles had her car window broken, handcuffed and detained in a cell for 7 hours with chains around her legs She was denied a phone call to a lawyer with an obvious lie that the landlines were down and during her detention agents were "laughing like it was a joke."
  • Ashley Palomares
    U.S. Citizen
    Wilder, Idaho horse track
    Oct 24, 2025
    Ashley Palomares was taken to do the ground and cuffed in an excessive use of force by agents and detained for 2 1/2 hours despite having her ID and being born in the USA. An older woman detained with her said she needed to use the bathroom and instead of helping the officer laughed. She also observed a boy around 14 grabbed by the neck and zip-tied.
  • Quinn Haberl
    Blind peaceful protestor
    Peaceful Protestor
    Portland, OR
    Oct 22, 2025
    Quinn Haberl,a 4-foot-6 blind man sitting outside an ICE facility peacefully protesting and clearly not impeding whatsoever, was grabbed, dragged and dropped on his head, had foot pressed on his back and neck and was cuffed for an hour before taken to the hospital with lots of bruising. Agents referred to Portland as a warzone unironically during the excessively violent arrest.
  • 14-year-old girl and her mother
    Wilder, ID horse race track
    Oct 21, 2025
    A 14-year-old girl was dragged out of her family truck by gunpoint during an ICE raid where she fell to the ground resulting in bruising on her ribcage and was then zip-tied. Her mother, Anabel Romero, was shoved to the ground and was kicked repeatedly resulting in bruising of her ribs and shoulder despite holding her hands empty in the air waiting for instruction. They also put a gun to her head and said they were going to "f%#king blow her head off." She was zip-tied as well and asked to go back to her children of which the agent laughed and said, "we're taking better care of them." They were detained for 3 hours despite telling them her social security number and date of birth and that she had her ID in their truck.
  • 15-year-old boy
    U.S. Citizen Born in Chicago
    Chicago
    Oct 14, 2025
    A 15-year-old American citizen peacefully protesting excessive use of force by CBP agents was slammed to the ground, cuffed and held down so hard he cried out "my neck, my neck" after which they pushed him down even harder. Then he was detained by agents in a federal building garage for five hours without informing his family, stating any charges, or allowing him to call an attorney or his family.
  • Maria Greeley
    44-year-old Latina worker at a bar
    U.S. Citizen born in Chicago
    Downtown Chicago bar
    Oct 13, 2025
    Bar worker Maria Greeley was zip-tied and questioned for an hour by federal immigration agents after finishing a double shift and despite having her passport and other forms of identification on hand of which the agents repeatedly questioned her valid identification documents as fake and said she "doesn’t look like" a Greeley (she was adopted).
  • Frank Miranda
    Metal shop employee
    U.S. Citizen
    U.S. Citizen born in California
    Portland, OR
    Oct 11, 2025
    U.S. citizen and Portlander Frank Miranda was threatened by masked ICE agents that "we're gonna put you in cuffs or you're gonna get the dog" after which he was struck from behind, handcuffed and put in a van in which his legs were kicked out from under him and was told he would be sitting on the floor. He was driven to an ICE facility where he was held for several hours without access to a lawyer before being released without charges or any explanation of his detainment.
  • Debbie Brockman
    WGN Employee
    U.S. Citizen
    Lincoln Square Chicago
    Oct 10, 2025
    U.S. Citizen and WGN Chicago employee Debbie Brockman was forced to the ground, handcuffed and battered in a way that exposed her buttocks while walking to a bus top in a northside neighborhood and was detained for seven hours despite no evidence of any wrongdoing and finally was released without charges.
  • Bayron Rovidio Marin
    Car wash employee
    Los Angeles Car Wash
    Oct 7, 2025
    Los Angeles resident Bayron Rovidio Marin suffered a broken leg during an immigration raid on the car wash he worked at and was handcuffed to a hospital bed for 37 days without any charges and was prevented from making phone calls, seeing family members and having proper access to lawyers. ICE agents were in his room 24 hours a day including during consults with his doctor.
  • Jessie Fuentes
    Chicago Alderperson
    Hospital in Chicago
    Oct 3, 2025
    Chicago Alderwoman Jessie Fuentes was handcuffed by plain-clothed ICE agents and forced out of a hospital for merely challenging the constitutionality of their detainment of an immigrant without a warrant.
  • Garcia Venegas
    U.S. Citizen
    Alabama construction site
    Oct 1, 2025
    U.S. citizen Garcia Venegas was racially profiled and detained on two separate occasions by ICE officers despite producing his REAL ID which they smeared as fake. On one occasion they screamed for him to "get on the fucking ground" and kept him in handcuffs for more than an hour and another incident they detained him and two other lawful U.S. citizens for 20-30 minutes.
  • Pertissue Fisher
    Apartment Resident
    U.S. Citizen
    Apartment building in South Shore neighborhood of Chicago
    Sep 30, 2025
    U.S. citizen Pertissue Fisher was handcuffed and detained for hours during an ICE raid on a South Shore apartment building in Chicago of which she noted it was the first time a gun was ever put in her face and said that "they just treated us like we were nothing."
  • Cary Lopez Alvarado
    9-month-pregnant woman
    U.S. Citizen
    Los Angeles, CA
    Sep 23, 2025
    9-month-pregnant U.S. born citizen Cary Lopez Alvarado was racially profiled by ICE\CBP agents who said, "you're from Mexico, right?" while she was filming them arrested her boyfriend at a safe distance. Despite this, they handcuffed and detained her for over 8 hours with a chain around her belly and released her with cuts and bruises as she went into labor.
  • 16-year-old high school
    Courthouse in Providence, RI
    Nov 21, 2025
    A 16-year-old high school student and judiciary intern was falsely detained, handcuffed, moved between two vehicles and was about to have been taken into ICE custody if a Superior Court judge hadn't intervened to vouch for him. They obstinately claimed it was a case of "mistaken identity" which is the excuse they use to justify racially profiling people.