U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS
A Sacramento man filed suit against Immigration and Customs Enforcement Wednesday, alleging that agents beat and threatened him with deportation when he refused to snitch on fellow immigrants living in the country illegally, according to a Thursday report from the Los Angeles Times. The complaint argues that ICE agents first put 28-year-old Carlos Alfredo Rueda Cruz under supervision in March 2017, which allegedly required him to attend meetings monthly and report on other undocumented immigrants—especially those who had committed crimes. But when Rueda didn’t cooperate, the complaint continues, ICE agents allegedly became abusive, screaming at Rueda and threatening to deport his family.
The abuse then allegedly grew physical when agents tried to deport him, and needed his fingerprint on a necessary form. Rueda claims that when he refused to provide the fingerprint, agents slammed his head into the table and kneed him in the ribs. When they attempted this a second day, the complaint alleges, “The ICE agents pushed his arms further up behind his back, causing him extreme and severe pain, as this aggravated the injuries to his neck and shoulders that he suffered the previous day.” Rueda’s deportation order has since been reversed after attorneys successfully argued that his fingerprint was coerced, the Times notes. He now seeks $750,000 in damages.