Tag Archives: Kenny Laynez

CBS News: U.S. citizen told “you have no rights” during immigration arrest speaks out

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Video of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen being violently arrested in Florida by immigration agents back in May has drawn heavy scrutiny, with advocates saying the expansion of state and local law enforcement’s role in illegal immigrant crackdowns contributed to the incident. 

Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol were conducting immigration enforcement on May 2 when they detained Kenny Laynez, a high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper with two other co-workers and his mother, who was driving.

Video Laynez recorded of the arrest shows an officer telling him, a U.S. citizen who was born and raised in the country, “You got no rights here. You’re an amigo, brother.”

“It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I’m Hispanic,” Laynez told CBS News. 

The car was pulled over for having too many people sitting in the front seat. Two passengers were undocumented, according to Laynez, and officers are seen on the video using a Taser. The teens’ two co-workers were both detained, and Laynez says he has been unable to contact them.

“We’re not resisting. We’re not committing any crime to, you know, run away,” Laynez said, recalling the arrest.

Laynez’s phone continued recording after he was detained, capturing an exchange in which an officer tells another, “They’re starting to resist more. We’re gonna end up shooting some of them.”

Another officer replies, “Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus.”

Florida Highway Patrol did not comment.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS News in a statement that the individuals “resisted arrest” and said immigration agents are facing a surge in assaults while doing their job. The statement made no mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained.

The video comes as Florida is set to deputize more than 1,800 additional law enforcement officers to conduct immigration operations as part of a statewide crackdown.

“Laws are just, you know, they’re no longer being respected. They’re no longer being upheld,” said Mariana Blanco, director at the Guatemala Maya Center, an advocacy group that opposes Florida’s new crackdown. “Deputizing these agents so quickly, it is going to bring severe consequences.” 

U.S. citizen told “you have no rights” during immigration arrest speaks out: “It hurts me”
Border Patrol and the Florida Highway Patrol arrested Kenny Laynez, an 18-year-old high school senior who was on his way to work as a landscaper, back in May.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kenny-laynez-arrest-you-have-no-rights-interview

Global News: 18-year-old detained by ICE told he had no rights, despite U.S. citizenship

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A high school senior who was detained by ICE in Florida in May while his mother was driving him and two of his teenage colleagues to work is speaking out about the violent altercation in which he was told — despite being an American citizen — that he had no rights.

Footage of 18-year-old Kenny Laynez’s violent arrest, reportedly captured on his cellphone, shows an officer telling him, “You got no rights here. You’re an amigo, brother.”

Laynez was born and raised in the United States.

Speaking to CBS News, he said, “It hurts me, hearing them saying that I have no rights here because I look like, um, you know, Hispanic, I’m Hispanic.”

According to Laynez, the car was pulled over because there were too many passengers riding in the front seat, and two passengers, his co-workers, were undocumented, he said.

Footage shows officers using a Taser while detaining the teens, both of whom Laynez says he has not been able to contact since.

“We’re not resisting. We’re not committing any crime to, you know, run away,” Laynez said, recalling the incident.

The high schooler’s phone kept recording after he had been arrested and picked up a conversation between officers where they were discussing shooting the detainees.

“They’re starting to resist more. We’re gonna end up shooting some of them,” one officer says to another.

“Just remember, you can smell that too with a $30,000 bonus,” another officer responded.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection told CBS in a statement that Laynez and his co-workers “resisted arrest” and claimed that immigration agents are experiencing a rise in assaults on the job.

The statement did not mention that a U.S. citizen had been detained, the outlet added.

Laynez recalled events as Florida prepares to deploy 1,800 more law enforcement officers to execute immigration raids ordered by the Trump administration.

Mariana Blanco, the director at the Guatemalan Maya Center, an advocacy group opposing Florida’s pursuit of immigrants, told CBS that, “laws are just… they’re no longer being respected.

“Deputizing these agents so quickly it is going to bring severe consequences,” she added.

Laynez is just one of a handful of young people to be arrested by ICE, seemingly without cause.

In June, students and staff at a high school in Massachusetts staged a post-graduation protest after U.S. immigration authorities detained a pupil who was scheduled to perform with the school’s band during the ceremony.

Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, 18, was driving his father’s car to volleyball practice the day before the ceremony with some of his teammates when he was pulled over by immigration authorities.

Officers said they were looking for Gomes Da Silva’s father, who, according to Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, is residing illegally in the U.S.

During the stop, authorities determined that Gomes Da Silva was also unlawfully in the country and detained him. According to his friends, Gomes Da Silva was born in Brazil but has attended Milford Public Schools in the Boston area since the age of six.

The teen’s arrest coincided with the final day of a far-reaching, month-long illegal immigration clampdown in Massachusetts, coined Operation Patriot, that saw nearly 1,500 people deemed “criminal aliens” detained.

Gomes Da Silva returned home after several days in ICE detainment after a judge released him on a $2,000 bond.

18-year-old detained by ICE told he had no rights, despite U.S. citizenship – National | Globalnews.ca
Footage of 18-year-old Kenny Laynez’s violent arrest, reportedly captured on his phone, shows an officer telling him, “You got no rights here. You’re an amigo, brother.”
18-year-old detained by ICE told he had no rights, despite U.S. citizenship

USA Today: The Trump administration is telling immigrants ‘Carry your papers.’ Here’s what to know.

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Papers, please!

Amid the Trump administration’s ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration, the nation’s immigration service is warning immigrants to carry their green card or visa at all times.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services posted the reminder July 23 on social media: “Always carry your alien registration documentation. Not having these when stopped by federal law enforcement can lead to a misdemeanor and fines.”

Here’s what immigrants – and American citizens – need to know.

‘Carry your papers’ law isn’t new

The law requiring lawful immigrants and foreign visitors to carry their immigration documents has been on the books for decades, dating to the 1950s.

The Immigration and Nationality Act states: “Every alien, eighteen years of age and over, shall at all times carry with him and have in his personal possession any certificate of alien registration or alien registration receipt card issued to him.”

But the law had rarely been imposed before the Trump administration announced earlier this year that it would strictly enforce it.

The “carry your papers” portion fell out of use for cultural and historical reasons, said Michelle Lapointe, legal director of the nonprofit American Immigration Council.

In contrast to the Soviet bloc at the time the requirement was written, “We have never been a country where you have to produce evidence of citizenship on demand from law enforcement.”

In a “Know Your Rights” presentation, the ACLU cautions immigrants over age 18 to follow the law and “carry your papers with you at all times.”

“If you don’t have them,” the ACLU says, “tell the officer that you want to remain silent, or that you want to consult a lawyer before answering any questions.”

A ‘precious’ document at risk

Many immigrants preferred to hold their green card or visa in safe-keeping, because, like a passport, they are expensive and difficult to obtain.

Historically, it was “a little risky for people to carry these precious documents such as green card, because there is a hefty fee to replace it and they are at risk of not having proof of status – a precarious position to be in,” Lapointe said.

But as immigration enforcement has ramped up, the risks of not carrying legal documents have grown.

Failure to comply with the law can result in a $100 fine, or imprisonment of up to 30 days.

Immigration enforcement and ‘racial profiling’

U.S. citizens aren’t required to carry documents that prove their citizenship.

But in an environment of increasing immigration enforcement, Fernando Garcia, executive director of the nonprofit Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, Texas, said he worries about U.S. citizens being targeted.

“With massive raids and mass deportation, this takes a new dimension,” he said. “How rapidly are we transitioning into a ‘show me your papers’ state?”

“The problem is there are a lot of people – Mexicans, or Central Americans – who are U.S. citizens who don’t have to carry anything, but they have the burden of proof based on racial profiling,” he said. “There are examples of U.S. citizens being arrested already, based on their appearance and their race.”

American citizens targeted by ICE

The Trump administration’s widening immigration crackdown has already netted American citizens.

In July, 18-year-old Kenny Laynez, an American citizen, was detained for six hours by Florida Highway Patrol and Border Patrol agents. He was later released.

Federal agents also detained a California man, Angel Pina, despite his U.S. citizenship in July. He was later released.

Elzon Limus, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from Long Island, New York, decried his arrest by ICE agents in June, after he was released. In a video of the arrest, immigration agents demand Limus show ID, with one explaining he “looks like somebody we are looking for.”

In updated guidance, attorneys at the firm of Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, which has offices in Chicago, Detroit and Los Angeles, advise U.S. who are concerned about being stopped and questioned “to carry a U.S. passport card or a copy of their U.S. passport as evidence of U.S. citizenship.”

“Papers, please!” is so un-American. 🙁

The Trump administration is telling immigrants ‘Carry your papers.’ Here’s what to know.
Immigrants have long been required to carry ID proving they’re in the US legally, but the rule was not enforced. Until now.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/07/25/carry-your-papers-law-enforcement-immigrants-citizens/85374881007