A Houston family came through a major nightmare on Thursday morning when their 16-year-old was attacked by ICE. Reports say that he was choked, beaten, and racially abused by U.S. immigration agents on his way to school, but little did they know that he was American-born only. Sources reveal that the name of the boy is Arnoldo Bazan, and he said that he was travelling with his father, Arnulfo Bazan, on October 23, and suddenly their car was stopped by men dressed in plain clothes who came with an unmarked vehicle.
And, what he said next can be compared to a plot of a bad movie. “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,”Arnoldo told reporters at a press conference. He further said, “Me and my dad went to fight-or-flight mode, and we just backed away.”
Arnoldo Bazan, a 16-year-old U.S. citizen, was beaten, choked, and subjected to racial slurs by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Houston, who did not identify themselves before tackling him and his father to the ground. Bazan was released after several… pic.twitter.com/AEndcRdkdE
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No doubt they were terrified by the situation, and the father, without wasting any time, hit the gas, and subsequently the mystery men chased them down. Arnoldo stated that those agents rammed their car several times and eventually forced them to stop. The situation got even worse, they the pair rushed towards a restaurant supply store to get help.
“I saw they started choking him, kicking him, punching him,” Arnoldo 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.”
The teen said that they were tackled as well as strangled, and the pair was taken to a parking lot where the officers threw away racial comments too, and even called them “border hoppers.” And eventually, everyone came to know that Arnoldo is a U.S. citizen, coming from Texas. His father, on the other hand was deported in 2000 and had a DWI conviction in 2015, for which he served his sentence.
Both were taken into custody, with Arnoldo being released soon, but Arnulfo, his father remained detained at the Montgomery Processing Center. The Department of Homeland Security is yet to make a comment on this incident. According to the Houston Chronicle, officers making an arrest are required to identify themselves “as an immigration officer who is authorized to execute an arrest” and state the reason for the arrest. The Bazan family says that never happened.
Immigration advocates are now calling the episode a chilling warning of growing ICE aggression under the Trump administration. “As ICE presence increases in our city, we fear that more incidents like this can unfold,” Espinosa said. “How are we as community members supposed to know who is who if ICE doesn’t identify themselves?”
Arnoldo’s sister, Maria Bazan, made an emotional plea for justice. “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,” she 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.”
