Elzon Lemus, a 23-year-old American citizen from Brentwood, New York, has strongly condemned the actions of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after being detained while on his way to work.
According to Lemus, the sole reason for the stop was his Hispanic appearance.
“ICE says they’re looking for criminals, but in reality, they’re the criminals,” Lemus said during a press conference held Thursday, as reported by The Independent.
Lemus, who works as an electrician, was sitting in the passenger seat of a car headed to his job in Westbury when ICE agents, backed by Homeland Security vehicles, pulled the vehicle over. The agents allegedly told him he “looked like someone they were looking for.”
In cellphone footage of the encounter, one agent can be heard saying:
“This is going to go one of two ways: I need to see your ID. If you’re not the guy we’re looking for, great. But we need your ID.”
In response, Lemus asked the agents to identify themselves by name and badge number. They refused, claiming they were “not authorized” to share that information.
“So I told them I wasn’t authorized to give my ID either,” he recounted.
The situation escalated quickly. Lemus says he was handcuffed, his phone was confiscated to prevent him from filming, and agents searched his pockets until they found his identification. He claims he remained handcuffed for about 25 minutes.
“It was heartbreaking. I felt like my rights had been trampled,” Lemus said, visibly shaken.
According to NBC 4, Lemus was not driving and had committed no offense at the time of the incident. He told reporters he immediately realized the men were not regular police officers, which reinforced his decision not to comply without a legal reason — as The Independent also reported.
His attorney, Fred Brewington, described the incident as a blatant violation of civil rights.
“This is not the America we know. A young Hispanic man, starting his day at 7:30 in the morning to go to work, should not be greeted in this way,” Brewington stated.
The attorney added that ICE “cannot act on mere hunches” without legal grounds, denouncing such practices as “unconstitutional.”
New York State Assemblyman Philip Ramos, a former detective, also condemned the incident, calling it “racial profiling” and demanding a thorough investigation.
Lemus and his attorney are formally requesting a Justice Department inquiry.
“When they pulled me over, I felt like my rights no longer existed,” Lemus said. “I was in shock. I felt stripped.”
Lemus is not the first U.S. citizen of Hispanic origin to experience this. Several similar cases have been reported in recent months.
