This U.S. Citizen Is Suing ICE for Arresting Him 3 Times. His Lawsuit Is Moving Forward.
Despite carrying a REAL ID, Leo Garcia Venegas has been repeatedly detained by immigration agents. Now he’s suing to block immigration raids targeting Latinos on private construction sites.
Leo Garcia Venegas, an American citizen and construction worker, has been arrested and detained by federal immigration officers, not once, not twice, but three times since the spring of 2025, despite carrying and presenting an Alabama REAL ID each time. A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that his lawsuit against the Trump administration for violating his Fourth Amendment rights can move forward.
Venegas was working early on May 21, 2025, laying the foundation for a new home in Foley, Alabama, southeast of Mobile, when he saw "five armed men in camouflage" jump the property line fence and run toward the construction workers, according to his complaint filed in the Southern District of Alabama. Venegas quickly began recording on his phone after one of the officers physically assaulted his brother, another worker at the construction site.
Video of the incident shows another officer approach Venegas. "Yes, immigration," the masked officer says. Venegas sidesteps the man, trying to get clear footage of his brother's ongoing arrest. "You're making this more complicated than you want to," the officer says while following Venegas. "Don't touch me! I'm a citizen!" Venegas exclaims as the officer grabs him by the arm and tries to force him to the ground.
"I'll show you my papers now! I'm a citizen!" pleads Venegas. Additional officers run over to assist in the tackle. "Get on the fucking ground now!" one yells, and Venegas falls to the ground.
While pinned to the ground by three officers, one of the men grabbed Venegas' wallet out of his back pocket, according to the lawsuit. But despite carrying his valid REAL ID–compliant driver's license—which requires proof of citizenship or lawful presence to be issued—the officers refused to accept the ID as proof that he was in the country legally. Instead, the officers accused Venegas of having a fake ID and placed him in handcuffs.
After pleading with officers to check his Social Security number for over an hour in the hot Alabama sun, "one of the officers finally relented, made a phone call, and confirmed that [Venegas'] Social Security Number was valid," writes the complaint. Venegas was released with no charges.
But just three weeks later, it happened again. While working alone inside a "partially constructed home," armed, masked federal officers entered the private property without permission and detained Venegas. And for the second time, according to the complaint, the officers told Venegas that his REAL ID could be fake and therefore was not enough to prove his citizenship or legal status.
Venegas was eventually released after officers confirmed, again, that he was a citizen.
Represented by the Institute for Justice (I.J.), a nonprofit law firm, Venegas filed suit in September 2025, arguing the two warrantless detentions lacked probable cause and were instead based only on his ethnicity. In response, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has defended the immigration officers' actions, arguing that Americans have no reasonable expectation of privacy while working on privately owned construction sites and that REAL IDs can't be trusted to prove U.S. citizenship.
But as his case works its way through the courts, Venegas has been forced to live with the reality of the Trump administration's immigration policies. And on May 2, almost one year after his initial immigration arrest, he was detained for a third time. Without asking any questions or issuing any lawful commands, the agents confronted Venegas after parking in front of his own home, pulled him from his car, tackled him to the ground, and placed him in handcuffs, according to his declaration following the incident. And, once again, officers refused to let Venegas go after he presented his REAL ID.
However, Venegas' luck may be turning. According to an I.J. press release on September 3, a federal judge rejected the Trump administration's attempt to dismiss the case. In what IJ senior attorney Jared McClain called "an important first step," Venegas' case is moving forward. "We know the [DHS] thinks it can raid construction sites without a warrant, round up all the workers, and refuse to credit their government-issued IDs," McClain continued. "Now we'll have the chance to prove these violations of the Fourth Amendment."
