https://www.al.com/news/2026/09/judge-declines-to-dismiss-suit-filed-by-us-citizen-detained-3-times-by-ice.html>Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a United States citizen, has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement while working at construction sites.
>U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Beaverstock in Mobile has rejected the government’s request to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an American citizen construction worker detained three times by ICE even though he has a REAL ID.>Leo Garcia Venegas filed the federal lawsuit in an effort to stop unconstitutional raids by immigration officers, his attorneys say. Beaverstock ruled after a hearing earlier this month that the suit could proceed.>“The court’s decision was an important first step,” said the Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Jared McClain, representing Garcia Venegas. “We know the Department of Homeland Security thinks it can raid construction sites without a warrant, round up all the workers, and refuse to credit their government-issued IDs. Now we’ll have the chance to prove these violations of the Fourth Amendment.”>Beaverstock has yet to rule on the lawsuit’s request for a temporary injunction against the raids and detentions.>Garcia Venegas, a construction worker in Baldwin County, has been detained three times since the spring of 2025 despite presenting an Alabama-issued REAL ID each time, his attorneys say.>In May and June of 2025, he was detained by officers who entered his private job sites without warrants. Both times, officers refused to believe he was a citizen or recognize his REAL ID as proof of legal status. This year, officers followed him home and confronted him in his driveway.>He was removed from his car, tackled to the ground, handcuffed, shackled, and locked in the back of a car, his attorneys say.>“Americans cannot be stopped and held by law enforcement when they are doing nothing wrong,” Garcia Venegas said. “I’m glad my case is moving forward, and I hope it can make lasting change.”
>At a May hearing to consider the motion for a preliminary injunction, a DHS official testified that agents do not treat REAL ID as reliable proof of legal presence. But DHS certifies and administers the REAL ID Act and then-Secretary Kristi Noem spent considerable time last year encouraging people to get their REAL ID, the Institute for Justice attorneys argue.
