Federal agents conducting an immigration enforcement operation in Key Largo briefly detained an American citizen Wednesday, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency acknowledged.
The incident happened near mile marker 103. In a video filmed by Miami Herald reporter David Goodhue, the unidentified woman can be heard screaming, “I’m a U.S. citizen, please help me, this is unfair, why are you doing this to me?”
“Saw the agents talking with her for a while, didn’t really think much of it at the time, then I heard yelling and screaming,” Goodhue said.
The veteran reporter had received a tip that CBP was conducting a traffic stop enforcement operation, went to see what was happening, and ended up recording a now-viral video documenting the incident.
“They struggled with her, she’s screaming the whole time, and they put her against the car, take her to the ground, handcuff her, she’s screaming,” Goodhue said. “Then they finally get the cuffs on her, and they put her in one of their SUVs.”
Agents released her about 10 minutes later after they checked her driver’s license and confirmed she was an American citizen. As of this writing, NBC6 has not received a response from CPB, but the agency told the Herald they could not discuss the criteria they use to pull drivers over in these traffic checkpoint operations.
“So they wouldn’t get into why they pulled her over, they did say when they pulled her over, she didn’t roll her window down, she wouldn’t give her driver’s license to them, they said she wasn’t being cooperative,” Goodhue explained.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, was not involved in the Key Largo incident, but ICE and CBP operate under the same Department of Homeland Security umbrella. Data analyzed by NBC6 shows 27 ICE apprehensions in September along US 1 in the Keys from Key Largo to Card Sound Road. Since July, another 64 people were taken into custody by ICE along US 1 south of Key Largo. Overall, the number of apprehensions has climbed dramatically, starting in February of this year in South Florida.
In the Keys, the recent traffic stops are happening during the morning rush hour in the southbound lanes.
“So it certainly looks like they’re targeting commuters coming into the Keys,” Goodhue observed.
Much of the workforce lives on the mainland and drives to work every day in the Keys.
The traffic stops are legal. By law, as long as CBP agents are within 100 miles of the United States border, they can conduct checkpoints without using warrants. Of course, the Florida Keys are within that standard as international waters begin 12 miles offshore.
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