cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/31807844

By Jennifer Medina
Reporting from Los Angeles
June 15, 2025

[with videos]

"One agent soon twisted Jason Brian Gavidia’s arm and pressed him against a black metal fence outside the lot where he runs an auto body shop in Montebello, a working-class suburb east of the Los Angeles city limits. Another officer then asked him an unusual question to prove whether he was a U.S. citizen or an undocumented #immigrant.

“What hospital were you born at?” the Border Patrol agent asked.

Mr. Gavidia, 29, was born only a short drive from where they were standing… He did not know the hospital’s name. “I was born here,” he shouted at the agent, adding, “I’m an American, bro!”"

https://archive.ph/dBqBO

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Heard the recording, guy sounds so Chicano it’s so obvious he’s from here. Local NPR station covered it a bit, people know they’re going to get racially profiled and keep their passports on hand, but even that’s not a guarantee.

    Sadly it’s not even the first time this has happened. It’s everytime there’s an increased effort by ICE. I think they put it well when they said it’s akin to Stop and Frisk laws in NY that caused a lot of racial profiling.

      • taiyang@lemmy.world
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        21 hours ago

        I wouldn’t assume that given his county, so try not to make it a leopard eating face / victim blaming story without evidence.

        Plus if you’re really thinking statistics, he’s likely a non-voter and in CA one could hardly blame him if that was the case (our general election votes literally do not matter).

          • taiyang@lemmy.world
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            20 hours ago

            You said statistically, and Latino men in that country weren’t in the majority for Trump. But like I said, if you’re really going full statistics, non-voters tend to be the biggest group (just, we don’t exactly have exit polls for them, lol)