Video of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen being violently arrested in Florida by immigration agents back in May has drawn heavy scrutiny, with advocates saying the expansion of state and local law enforcement’s role in illegal immigrant crackdowns contributed to the incident.
Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol were conducting immigration enforcement on May 2 when they detained Kenny Laynez, a high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper with two other co-workers and his mother, who was driving.
Video Laynez recorded of the arrest shows an officer telling him, a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the country, “You got no rights here. You’re an amigo, brother.”
“It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I’m Hispanic,” Laynez told CBS News.
The car was pulled over for having too many people sitting in the front seat. Two passengers were undocumented, according to Laynez, and officers are seen on the video using a Taser. The teens’ two co-workers were both detained, and Laynez says he has been unable to contact them.
“We’re not resisting. We’re not committing any crime to, you know, run away,” Laynez said, recalling the arrest.
Laynez’s phone continued recording after he was detained, capturing an exchange in which an officer tells another, “They’re starting to resist more. We’re gonna end up shooting some of them.”
Another officer replies, “Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus.”
Florida Highway Patrol did not comment.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS News in a statement that the individuals “resisted arrest” and said immigration agents are facing a surge in assaults while doing their job. The statement made no mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained.
The video comes as Florida is set to deputize more than 1,800 additional law enforcement officers to conduct immigration operations as part of a statewide crackdown.
“Laws are just, you know, they’re no longer being respected. They’re no longer being upheld,” said Mariana Blanco, director at the Guatemala Maya Center, an advocacy group that opposes Florida’s new crackdown. “Deputizing these agents so quickly, it is going to bring severe consequences.”
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