ACLU-NC Files Damages Claims Against the Federal Government on Behalf of North Carolinians Harmed by Immigration Agents

NORTH CAROLINA (July 29, 2026) — The American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina today filed a damages claim against the federal government on behalf of Fernando Vazquez Orea, who was unlawfully arrested and detained while at work and then dumped on the side of a road by federal immigration agents. This claim, along with a claim filed on behalf of Willy Wender Aceituno in March, is among 54 claims filed across 17 states and Washington, D.C., as part of a coordinated nationwide effort by the ACLU and its affiliates.

On November 18, 2025, 18-year-old U.S. citizen and North Carolina-born Mr. Vazquez was working at a landscaping job in Cary when unmarked vehicles carrying immigration agents sped onto the job site. The agents approached Mr. Vazquez and demanded to know where he was from but did not identify themselves 0r present a warrant. When Mr. Vazquez did not immediately answer, an agent removed Mr. Vazquez's earphone from his ear, and moments later, handcuffed him, searched him, and emptied his wallet, finding his Real ID along with his driver’s license, school ID, and library card. The agents then put Mr. Vazquez in an unmarked SUV and drove away. After Mr. Vazquez told the agents he was born in Raleigh, they began swearing, pulled over on the side of the road in an isolated wooded area, removed Mr. Vasquez's handcuffs, and dumped him there. As they drove away, the agents threw his wallet, identification, and credit cards from the vehicle, leaving Mr. Vazquez stranded and forcing him to run back to the job site. The encounter left Mr. Vazquez with wrist injuries from the handcuffs and lasting emotional trauma, including persistent anxiety, difficulty sleeping, and fear of being stopped and detained again simply because he is Latino.

On November 15, 2025, another U.S. citizen, Mr. Aceituno, was on his way into a restaurant when immigration agents surrounded him, pushed him against an unmarked vehicle, and forced him to provide identification to confirm his citizenship. Mr. Aceituno provided his Real ID driver’s license, and after confirming his citizenship, the agents walked away. Mr. Aceituno went inside the restaurant to get his food, and then walked back to his truck, but moments later, agency vehicles pulled in front and behind him to block his exit. While he began to record, the agents shattered his window and attempted to grab his phone before holding Mr. Aceituno in a headlock and pulling him from his truck. He was thrown onto the pavement, which was covered in broken glass, and suffered bleeding cuts all over his body. Mr. Aceituno was handcuffed, placed in an unmarked SUV, and driven away from the scene. He kept repeating that he was a citizen while the agents continued to tell him to "shut up." Eventually, the SUV stopped, and an agent took Mr. Aceituno’s wallet from his front pocket and confirmed again that he was a citizen. The agents left Mr. Aceituno on the side of the road, still bleeding and two miles away from his truck. Mr. Aceituno is also one of five plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit challenging warrantless immigration arrests in North Carolina.

ACLU-NC's claims on behalf of Mr. Vazquez and Mr. Aceituno represent a fraction of the harm immigration agents have inflicted on our communities. Recently, two Charlotte mothers filed damages claims after immigration agents followed their vehicle, blocked them from leaving, used a firearm to smash their window while keeping its muzzle pointed at them, and arrested them for attempting to observe and document agents' conduct during Operation Charlotte's Web.

"Mr. Vazquez and Mr. Aceituno's damages claims are part of a national effort to hold the federal government accountable and challenge the unlawful and abusive tactics that have harmed communities across our state and country," said Corina Scott, Staff Attorney at the ACLU of North Carolina. "North Carolinians have repeatedly witnessed and experienced these harms firsthand, and these claims are a meaningful step toward accountability and recourse. The ACLU of North Carolina will continue to use every tool available to challenge the reckless abuse of power by immigration agents in our state."

Across the country, the ACLU and its partners are fighting back against the Trump administration’s illegal conduct by filing claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), one of the few legal tools available to seek financial compensation for wrongdoing by federal government employees. Through this coordinated effort, ACLU affiliates are representing dozens of people and families who are seeking justice for the harm they experienced at the hands of federal immigration agents.

"I am a hardworking blue-collar worker and landscaper. I plant trees, lay sod, and help improve the environment through my work. I have no criminal record, I graduated from high school, and I have goals like anyone else. One of my biggest goals is to start my own business and build a better future for myself and my family. On that eventful day, I believe I was targeted because of the color of my skin. I was handcuffed and placed in the back of an SUV, terrified and uncertain about what was going to happen next or whether I would still be able to achieve the goals I had worked so hard toward. I did not understand why I was being taken. I presented my North Carolina REAL ID driver’s license, which required me to provide proof of my identity and birth date, my Social Security number, and two proofs of North Carolina residency in order to obtain it. Despite cooperating and providing my identification, I was still taken into custody," said Fernando Vazquez Orea, who was unlawfully arrested and detained by immigration agents and filed a damages claim against the federal government in response. "I was left in the middle of a wooded area with no transportation or assistance. My belongings had been thrown out, adding to the humiliation and hardship I experienced. I was left to figure out how to get to safety on my own. The entire experience left me feeling powerless, frightened, humiliated, and deeply shaken. It has had a lasting emotional impact on me. I believe what happened to me was unjust, and I am seeking accountability and justice for what I experienced. I want my story to be heard so that no one else has to go through what I experienced."

Each of the more than 50 claims that have been filed tells an individual story of someone who was brutalized by immigration enforcement. Together, they reveal a widespread pattern of civil rights violations and abuse carried out by officials nationwide, affecting immigrants, U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, families, workers, and people exercising their constitutional rights.

Since the beginning of President Trump’s second term, immigration agents have terrorized communities and people in their custody with a blatant disregard for the law. The consequences have been deadly. Conditions in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities are so inhumane that the rate of deaths in ICE custody has more than doubled since Trump’s term began, reaching its highest level in over a decade. In early July, reporting revealed that, after the White House pushed to increase arrest rates, ICE officials detained more than 10,000 people in five days. Only days later, ICE agents in unmarked vehicles shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Texas while he was on his way to work. The following week, a federal agent shot and killed Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Maine.

Earlier this month, the ACLU released a report analyzing immigration enforcement actions in the first year of President Trump’s second term. The report, Agents of Chaos and Cruelty, examines more than 1,200 immigration enforcement incidents across eight states and found that more than 400 of those incidents involved misconduct by immigration agents, including excessive force, racial profiling, and intimidation and abuse.

The ACLU and its affiliates will continue to work to defend the rights of people harmed by federal immigration agents and hold the government accountable for its unlawful and inhumane actions.

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