In a declaration filed in federal court, Leo Garcia Venegas said he was parking in front of his house in Silverhill, Alabama, on the morning of May 2 when an unmarked SUV blocked him in. Venegas claimed that before he could hand his Alabama-issued REAL ID to the two federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers who approached him, they pulled him out of the truck he was driving and handcuffed him.

What makes the incident extraordinary is that Venegas is the lead plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit challenging DHS’ immigration enforcement policies, and it was the third time he’s been handcuffed and detained by ICE agents. Venegas was detained twice in 2025 during raids on private construction sites where he was working, even though he had a REAL ID identifying him as a U.S. citizen.