US citizen suing Trump admin, seeks $1 million for detaining him at an immigration raid

A U.S. citizen is using a Latino civil rights organization to sue the Trump administration for $1 million for detaining him for allegedly just recording an immigration raid.

Los Angeles resident Job Garcia filmed U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents conducting a raid on a local Home Depot on June 19, according to a press release from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

MALDEF admits in the press release that Garcia, a photographer and doctoral candidate at Claremont Graduate University who was at the Home Depot “doing delivery work,” immediately started hassling the CBP and ICE agents when they arrived.

“As people began to scatter, Garcia and others shouted to the masked agents that they needed a warrant to arrest people,” the press release reads.

my friend Job Garcia was arrested by ICE while running errands in Los Angeles. He is a US Citizen, a scholar and a brilliant photographer but none of that defines his humanity. ICE should free Job immediately. pic.twitter.com/da9bPXfasj

— Bradford William Davis (@BWDBWDBWD) June 20, 2025

They ignored him and proceeded to surround a truck with an illegal alien inside it. Garcia then “warned the driver not to open the door or lower the window” despite the agents’ orders.

When the immigration agents broke the truck’s window because the illegal immigrant disobeyed them, “Garcia and the rest of the crowd shouted their disapproval at the agents” as if they needed his approval to do their job.

It’s at this point that the fed-up agents finally turned their attention to Garcia’ disruptive self.

“All of a sudden, one of the agents lunged at Garcia and tried to take his phone even though Garcia moved backward, away from the agents,” according to MALDEF. “A few other agents tackled him to the ground, placed him on his stomach, and restrained him.”‘

“Some of the agents knelt on Garcia’s back and neck as they handcuffed him. One masked agent took his phone and put it in his pocket. Garcia said that at no time did the agents warn him to move away or to stop recording before his arrest,” the press release continues.

Watch, and notice how close Garcia got to the agents before they rushed him:

Job Garcia, a US Citizen and Phd student, was just arrested by ICE for recording them.

Here’s the video:

pic.twitter.com/HC784J1doL

— Micah Erfan (@micah_erfan) June 21, 2025

After Garcia was detained, he was put in the back of an SUV and questioned in Spanish, which evidently offended him.

At one point, as he was being transferred to the custody of another agent, the first agent said, “I got another one.”

Garcia assumed the comment was “racially charged.”

“Garcia, still in handcuffs, was then taken in a van to Dodger Stadium with other men who had been arrested that afternoon,” the press release reads. “Once there, he was taken out of the van and placed on a curb.”

Shortly thereafter, he was taken to the federal Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in downtown Los Angeles, where once again the agents attempted to question him.

“Garcia refused interrogation each time,” the press release admits.

The next day, he was released and sent on his merry way home without any charges, despite his bad behavior.

Weeks later, he’s now seeking a whopping $1 million from the Trump administration.

“Border Patrol and ICE punished me for informing others of their rights and for exercising my own rights,” he said in a statement. “I thank my family and community for their support as I continue the struggle for justice.”

Job Garcia was released by law enforcement and then did an interview where he admitted to pushing an ICE officer.

Garcia is on video getting too close to ICE, obstructing, then admitted to assaulting them.

Yet he now says he’s going to sue for the violation of his civil rights. pic.twitter.com/e2CZyDB7Bp

— Paul A. Szypula (@Bubblebathgirl) June 21, 2025

But the Trump administration is telling an entirely different story. In a statement to The Hill, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin accused Garcia of having assaulted and verbally harassed the agents at Home Depot.

“He was subdued and arrested for assault on a federal agent,” she said.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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