Pregnant US citizen arrested by ICE went into labor prematurely in CA, claim says
A Los Angeles woman who was 9 months pregnant went into labor prematurely after she was wrongly arrested and assaulted by immigration agents, according to her attorneys.
Cary Lopez Alvarado, who is a U.S. citizen, was detained June 8 when she told U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Border Patrol agents that they needed a warrant upon their arrival at a private property in Hawthorne, a federal tort claim filed Aug. 20 on her behalf says.
Alvarado’s boyfriend and her cousin worked at the residence, where Alvarado was waiting for them at the property’s gate after her boyfriend told her over the phone that immigration authorities were following their truck, according to the legal claim.
Once her boyfriend and cousin arrived, the claim says federal agents pulled in behind their truck and tried to open it as Alvarado told them they needed a warrant.
Then, according to the claim, she was violently restrained and held in custody for several hours.
“The agents manhandled Ms. Alvarado by grabbing and pulling Ms. Alvarado’s arms, twisting her arm on the truck, and pushing her body, including her pregnant belly, onto the truck,” attorneys with the Carrillo Law Firm wrote in the filing.
“Border Patrol or ICE agents then shackled Ms. Alvarado with a chain under her pregnant belly, hands, and legs,” the claim states.
Footage the attorneys shared with McClatchy News shows Alvarado, who is visibly pregnant, being detained against a white truck.
“I didn’t want them to hurt my stomach because I had my baby there,” Alvarado said during an Aug. 20 news conference, KCAL reported.
Alvarado is one of five U.S. citizens who filed claims on Aug. 20 against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ICE and Customs and Border Protection over their arrests by immigration authorities in Southern California. A sixth claim was also filed on behalf of a legal U.S. resident. The claims are all being represented by the Carillo Law Firm.
Attorney Michael Carrillo said during the news conference that his clients “were racially profiled by ICE and border patrol agents in various communities in the Southland,” KCAL reported.
Since their arrests, the charges against them have been dismissed, according to the outlet.
In response to McClatchy News’ request for comment, a DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement on Aug. 26 that “what makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S. — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity.”
The DHS spokesperson said “70% of ICE arrests are of criminal illegal aliens who have been convicted or have pending charges.”
The spokesperson did not respond when McClatchy News asked why Alvarado was detained. In June, the agency told KTLA that she was arrested because she prevented agents from reaching “two Guatemalan illegal aliens” inside a car.
A DHS representative accused her of pushing an agent, according to KTLA.
In the claim, her attorneys argue that federal agents “had no evidence to charge Ms. Alvarado with a crime because she was not interfering with the arrests of others but was asking the agents to identify themselves and to provide a warrant.”
Alvarado is seeking $1 million in damages in connection with her arrest, which she says harmed her and her baby.
Her attorneys argue that DHS, ICE and CBP are liable for several federal violations, including false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery and racial profiling.
The other claimants represented by the Carillo Law Firm include U.S. citizens Angel Piña, Javier Ramirez, Andrea Velez and Juan Carlos Ramirez, as well as legal permanent resident Juan Rivas. They were arrested in June and July.
On Aug. 26, the firm announced it is representing another U.S. citizen, a 15-year-old boy with special needs who they said was wrongfully detained by ICE at Arleta High School in Los Angeles on Aug. 11. ICE agents are accused of holding the boy at gunpoint.
Man is jailed for days
ICE and Border Patrol agents did not have a warrant when they arrived at Javier Ramirez’s job at L.A. City Junk Cars in Montebello on June 12, racially profiled him, threw him to the ground and wrongly arrested him, according to his legal claim.
The claim says the agents, who were wearing masks, “immediately pointed at Mr. Ramirez and said ‘Get him, he’s Mexican.’”
Javier Ramirez told them he was a U.S. citizen who had a passport, but he was ultimately jailed for four days, from June 12 to June 16, on charges of assaulting, resisting or impeding a federal officer.
Ramirez, a father of two, was born in San Bernandino, his family told KABC following his arrest. At the time, they expressed concern for his wellbeing, explaining he has diabetes and was taken into custody without his insulin.
The claim says his brother tried to give agents his medicine, but they “refused to take it.”
Like Alvarado, he is seeking $1 million in damages over his arrest and detainment, which left him with physical and emotional injuries.
The claims come after several lawmakers sent a letter to DHS on Aug. 8, demanding an investigation into reports of ICE detaining and deporting U.S. citizens, according to a news release from the office of Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10).
“ICE policy makes clear that, (a)s a matter of law, ICE cannot assert its civil immigration enforcement authority to arrest and/or detain a U.S. citizen,” the letter said. “However, in recent high-profile cases, ICE has erroneously arrested U.S. citizens, at times appearing to use violent physical force.”
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