More than 170 U.S. citizens had been caught up in the Trump administration’s maximalist immigration crackdown, ProPublica reported last October. That was before the brutal killings of queer mother Renee Good and ICU nurse Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minnesota earlier this year.

The number of U.S. citizens detained, beaten, or killed by immigration enforcement agents has only grown since, and a large number of the victims have been children. This week, out Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA), ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) held a surprise hearing highlighting how those children have been abused at the hands of ICE and Customs and Border Patrol agents.

Related

Gay man fights husband’s “dehumanizing” & “barbaric” detention by ICE

The hearing accompanied the release of a minority staff report on Tuesday, entitled “Cruelty Is The Point: How Trump’s Immigration Agenda Endangers Children.” The document cites 128 cases of children “who have been injured, left unattended, or otherwise put at direct risk of harm due to operations of the Department of Homeland Security.”

Among the three teenagers who shared their stories in emotional congressional testimony was 16-year-old Arnoldo Bazan.

Never Miss a Beat

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today

Bazan, a U.S. citizen from Houston, Texas, was assaulted by ICE agents as they pursued his undocumented father. The two were stopping at a McDonald’s for breakfast to celebrate Bazan making his high school varsity team, when multiple unmarked vehicles pulled up beside their family’s van.

“Armed men with masks jumped out and started banging on the windows,” Bazan testified. “They never identified themselves or explained why we were stopped. We didn’t know who these men were. I started recording on my phone. One of the unmarked cars rammed into our car multiple times. I even felt our car lift.”

Outside the van, Bazan ran to help his dad, when some of the armed men grabbed him, he said.

“One officer put me in a chokehold and told me, ‘You’re done.’”

“His grip was so tight, I wondered if I would even make it out alive,” Bazan said, working hard to compose himself. “With all of my strength, I screamed that I was underage and from the United States.”

When the agents let go, Bazan tried to gather a crowd to scare them off, yelling he had proof on his cellphone that officers tried to flip their vehicle. That’s when they confiscated the device.

Garcia displayed photos of Bazan in the hospital and recounted the effects of the attack: Bazan suffered injuries to his back and neck, and evidence of a chokehold.

Bazan said officers forced him and his father into one of the agents’ vehicles and drove them to Bazan’s house, where the two “prayed for one last time. I tried to hug him, but he couldn’t hug me back because he was handcuffed.”

His father was deported to Mexico. Since then, Bazan said he can’t sleep and has missed school.

Garcia was indignant at the father and son’s mistreatment as he questioned the teenager.

“ICE actually said falsely that your father rammed his van into one of the officers’ vehicles. Your own video of the incident — which you took heroically, by the way — shows that agents rammed your van four times. Is that correct?” Garcia asked.

“Yes, sir,” Bazan replied.

“Now, did you know that they were law enforcement?”

“No, sir. They never identified themselves,” Bazan said.

“Now, your dad is then arrested. He’s beaten, and you actually try to help him. And after the agents tackled you, one agent pressed his knee onto your back, while another put you in a chokehold. Is that correct?” Garcia asked.

“Yes, sir,” Bazan replied.  

“You told the officers that you were a U.S. citizen. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir,” Bazan answered.  

“And this is how they responded,” Garcia added, displaying photos of Bazan in the hospital.

“They were so brutal that you needed medical attention, as you can see here,” Garcia continued. “A nurse at the hospital where you were taken actually called 911, to report to the police that you had been choked and beaten. And you were repeatedly called slurs by the officers. Is that correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What are some of the names that they called you?” Garcia inquired.

“Illegal son of an alien. Border hopper,” Bazan said.

“They called you gay for crying, as well.”

“Yes,” Bazan answered.

“They called you a criminal. They called you a beaner. Is that correct?” Garcia continued.

“Yes, sir.”

“You told me you had filmed this on their cell phone. Is that right?” the congressman clarified.

“Yes, sir.”

“And that’s when they took your phone away?” he added.

“Yes, sir.”

“These agents didn’t just take your phone. They sold it. They pawned it at a kiosk for $250 cash. Is that correct?” Garcia asked.

“Yes, sir.”

“This is Donald Trump’s America,” Garcia concluded.

Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.