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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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Agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly detained an undocumented man as they searched for a drunk driver, but his family has said he does not own a car and doesn't know how to drive one.
The masked agents grabbed the man—a landscape gardener whose name is not known—from his work site on Maple Avenue in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, on May 30, the Berkshire Edge reported.
Newsweek has contacted the Department of Homeland Security for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump's administration has deported thousands of people while acting on campaign promises to remove millions of migrants living in the country illegally.
Concerns have been raised amid the crackdown, with critics warning that the administration has not followed due process in some cases and may be ignoring court orders. The Trump administration says its efforts are necessary to keep Americans safe.
Last week, Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff, told Fox News that the administration was setting a goal of a minimum of 3,000 arrests by ICE each day and that the number could go higher.
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What To Know
Two business owners confronted the agents detaining the man, recording the arrest and repeatedly asking for identification.
In a statement to CNN, ICE said the agents in the video were federal law enforcement officers and that the man who was detained was an "illegally present Colombian alien who violated the terms of his release by failing to report to immigration authorities."
Linda Shafiroff and Sarah Stiner, co-owners of Creative Building Solutions on Maple Avenue, tried to intervene as the man was being detained, the Berkshire Edge reported.
While the detained man does not work for them, he is an employee of a landscaping company that maintains their property, according to the newspaper.
Stiner told the outlet that she noticed a blacked-out SUV in their private parking lot hours before the gardener arrived for work. She said that after the man arrived, other cars with additional agents pulled up.
Shafiroff arrived when the arrest was already underway and filmed as she confronted the agents.
"We don't need to give you IDs," one agent said in the video.
"So how do we know you're federal?" she replied.
The agent then told her to "call the locals."
In the video, she said: "This gentleman can barely get in the car. He's being forced in and his hands jammed behind his back, and all they say is they're looking for someone who is a drunk driver."
According to the Berkshire Edge, a relative of the man said he did not know how to drive or own a car, and his only method of transportation was his bicycle.
ICE said in a news release on Monday that the agency and its federal law enforcement partners apprehended almost 1,500 people in May, including 790 who had been "charged with or convicted of crimes in the United States or abroad." Names and details of the charges were not provided.
Among those detained is an 18-year-old high school student that the Department of Homeland Security said agents "never intended to apprehend." They arrested him after he was "found to be in the United States illegally."
What People Are Saying
Linda Shafiroff told the Berkshire Edge: "The intimidation level was what was most disturbing. They were covered up in masks, hoods, and vests, and no IDs. They did not behave like police officers. Police officers are respectful. They know people have rights. These guys were like thugs."
Patricia Hyde, the acting field office director for ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston, said in a statement on Monday: "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a safer place today thanks to the hard work and determination of the men and women of ICE and our federal partners."
She added: "Make no mistake: Every person that we arrested was breaking our immigration laws, but most of these individuals had significant criminality. They are criminal offenders who victimized innocent people and traumatized entire communities—murderers, rapists, drug traffickers, child sex predators and members of violent transnational criminal gangs."
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether more details of the case will emerge. The family of the detained man told the Berkshire Edge that they had not heard from him.
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