US citizen chased by ICE in New Orleans says she was targeted because ‘I’m brown’ | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

A US citizen seen on home security video being chased by masked federal agents outside New Orleans during the Trump administration’s sweeping crackdown on immigration says he assumed he was being followed “because I’m brown.”

“I have no idea why they targeted me,” Jacelynn Guzman said. said The Guardian’s news partner WWL Louisiana reported on Thursday, a day after the video in question was filmed and subsequently went viral.

“That’s really the only thing I can think of… It scares me for my family. It’s devastating.”

Asked to comment on Guzman’s remarks, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson released a statement saying he fit the description of someone wanted by border patrol agents in connection with a deportation order.

In a statement Friday, it was stated that agents ultimately determined that Guzman “was not the target” and then left the area without making an arrest.

Guzman’s case nevertheless gave the public a clear sense of the tactics used by immigration agents who are swarming into Louisiana’s most populous city and the surrounding area with a goal of 5,000 arrests in the coming weeks.

As Guzman, 22, told WWL, Marrero was returning from a corner store near his home in Louisiana when an SUV pulled up next to him. Soon more unmarked cars arrived and men in masks and tactical gear poured in.

Guzman said he thought he was about to be kidnapped and ran toward the front door in full view of the home security camera.

“Leave me alone!” In the video, at least one masked man could be heard running after him, with two others following at a slower pace.

Guzman, whose family identifies as Hispanic, told WWL that she had no idea why men were approaching her other than the fact that “I’m brown.” The woman, who said she had no criminal record, told one of the agents, “I was born and raised here. I am a US citizen.”

“He didn’t care at all,” Guzman told the station.

The Trump administration told WWL it has deployed immigration agents to New Orleans-area communities, including Marrero, as part of an operation focused on violent criminals residing in the United States illegally.

The DHS statement on Friday said the man Guzman was mistaken for had previously been charged with felony theft and was convicted of unlawful possession of stolen property. Neither are considered violent crimes under Louisiana law; but the statement refers to that individual — without naming the individual — as a “public safety threat.”

The statement also stated that “the agents introduced themselves during their encounter with Guzman.” They ran toward Guzman’s home, stopped “once they reached his property,” and left when they realized he wasn’t the person they were looking for, DHS said.

Guzman’s stepfather told WWL that he ordered the agents pursuing him off their property. Home security video from the middle of his stepdaughter’s trial shows her pointing at the agents and yelling, “Hispanics against Hispanics, bro!” Then he caught it.

Guzman said he couldn’t help but believe the agents chasing him might have been “racially profiling all people of color.”

“This is wrong,” he told the CBS affiliate.

When Guzman spoke to WWL, immigration sweeps in the New Orleans area had arrested at least dozens of people and plunged immigrant communities into fear.

Most of those in US immigration detention are immigrants without criminal records, according to government data previously reported by the Guardian.