## U.S. Citizen Detained Three Times by Immigration Agents Despite CLEAR ID Documents, Lawsuit Pending Against Administration
Leonardo Garcia Venegas has been detained, shackled, and questioned about his citizenship three separate times by immigration enforcement agents—all while holding a valid Alabama REAL ID, a document that only citizens and legal permanent residents can obtain. The 26-year-old Alabama construction worker, whose most recent detention occurred on May 2, has become a focal point in the debate over immigration enforcement overreach and the systemic failure to verify citizenship claims against authoritative documentation.

The pattern of detentions began over a year ago, when Garcia Venegas was filming his brother's arrest during a raid on their coastal Alabama construction site. Agents tackled him as he tried to explain he was a citizen. Weeks later, a different officer entered a home Garcia Venegas was building and again refused to accept his REAL ID as proof of citizenship. On each occasion, agents ignored his protests and the documentation he presented. Videos of the encounters circulated widely, drawing national attention to his case. He subsequently appeared before Congress to testify about his experiences.

Despite the visibility, Garcia Venegas says little has changed. Immigration agents followed him to his residence again on May 2, once more declining to credit his citizenship claims or his state-issued identification. He currently has a civil suit pending against the Trump administration, alleging civil rights violations and challenging the legality of the detentions. The case raises questions about agent training, verification protocols, and the mechanisms available to citizens wrongly targeted by enforcement actions.
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- **Source**: ProPublica
- **Sector**: The Network
- **Tags**: immigration-enforcement, citizenship-rights, civil-rights, ICE, Alabama
- **Credibility**: unverified
- **Published**: 2026-05-15 11:48:22
- **ID**: 83423
- **URL**: https://whisperx.ai/en/intel/83423