American-born student 'beaten, choked' by ICE as he was on his way to school

A Houston teenager said a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent choked him, beat him, and yelled racial slurs at him when he was on his way to school. He is a U.S. citizen.

The incident occurred on Thursday, Oct. 23, when Arnoldo Bazan, 16, was being driven to school by his father, Arnulfo Bazan.

As they were on their way, an unmarked vehicle pulled over their car, Bazan recalled during a press conference. When they stopped, officers who were dressed in plainclothes and wore no insignias approached their car, but did not identify themselves as law enforcement.

“Their vests, they didn’t say ‘police’ (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), nothing. And that’s when me and my dad got scared because they started hitting our window, tried to open the door,” the younger Bazan said. “Me and my dad went to fight-or-flight mode, and we just backed away.”

The dad drove away in fear, but they were chased by the agents and rammed into their car several times. Eventually, the two stopped their car and tried to flee the situation, but were instead tackled and choked by the agents in a restaurant supply store.

“I saw they started choking him, kicking him, punching him,” Barzan said. “It’s when I reacted, I just ran to my dad, and (another agent) grabbed my shirt. I didn’t hit nobody. I didn’t do nothing to nobody. I was just standing there recording on my phone. And they took my phone. Then that’s when they tackled me. I said I was underage, the dude started choking me more.”

Afterwards, the father and son were taken to a nearby parking lot, where agents called both of them racial slurs and “border hoppers.” While the teenager is a U.S. citizen, the father’s current immigration status remains unclear.

Cesar Espinosa, executive director of the local immigrant-rights group FIEL Houston, said Arnulfo was deported at the U.S.-Mexico border in 2000 and was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2015, though he served his sentence for that offense.

The two were taken into custody, but the teenager was released after a few hours. Arnulfo remains detained by ICE at the Montgomery Processing Center.

The Department of Homeland Security has not yet commented on the incident.

According to the Houston Chronicle, agents conducting an arrest are required to identify themselves “as an immigration officer who is authorized to execute an arrest; and state that the person is under arrest and the reason for the arrest.”

The Barzan family and local immigration activists said that the incident should serve as a wake-up call to the excessive show of force taking place under the Trump administration.

“As ICE presence increases in our city, we fear that more incidents like this can unfold. We try to have our folks be ready in case they face ICE, but how are we as community members supposed to know who is who if ICE doesn’t identify themselves? In our beautiful, diverse city, we are so worried for our communities and all the families that will be separated and hurt by this administration,” Espinosa said.

“We do ask for justice, not only for my family but for all those other families who are out there who cannot get their voices heard and who are probably feeling really scared right now,” Maria Bazan, Arnoldo’s older sister, said. “What’s going to happen next? Who’s next? Remember, they start with one group, and it continues until they are surrounding us with fear. That is not what America stands for, and that’s why we’re here fighting for what others cannot fight for.”

Read the original article here.