The heavy-handed policy on the border and sanctuary cities has run head-on into justice. In an unprecedented legal move, five U.S. citizens and one legal resident have filed lawsuits against the U.S. government, accusing ICE and CBP agents of systematic violations of their civil rights during last year’s mass raids.
Citizens sue Trump over massive raids
Cary Lopez Alvarado, of Hawthorne, CA, was nine months pregnant, a US citizen.
Angie Rodriguez, an immigrant from Columbia, miscarried while in custody and has filed a lawsuit.
Antonia Aguilar Maldonado, a mother of two from El Salvador, her youngest child was still nursing… pic.twitter.com/evpv17Rs3X
– Sammi🦋 (@StoriesBySammi) December 13, 2025
What is described in the complaints filed in California are not just administrative errors, but episodes of police brutality.
Attorney Luis Carrillo called the agents’ actions “brutal,” noting that racial profiling was the driving force behind these unjust arrests.
Among the most heartbreaking cases are:
Cary Lopez: A U.S. citizen who, despite repeatedly identifying herself, was detained while pregnant. Lopez claims that the stress of detention caused her baby to be born prematurely.
Andrea Velez: Violently arrested while on her way to work. A video captured the moment she was subdued in front of her mother; she spent two nights in jail for a crime that was later dismissed.
Juan José Gutiérrez: Activist and U.S. citizen, who upon returning from Mexico was handcuffed to a table for three hours at the Los Angeles airport, ignoring his official documents.
The cost of “Zero Tolerance”.
Who is Andrea Velez? U.S. citizen detained by ICE alleges she did not receive water for 24 hourshttps://t.co/saxxAGJG86 pic.twitter.com/nWCMTCWSac
– El Heraldo de Mexico (@heraldodemexico) August 13, 2025
These lawsuits come on the heels of a year of intense immigration activity under the Donald Trump administration, where operatives in June and July 2025 sowed fear in Southern California’s Hispanic communities.
The victims are not only seeking financial compensation, but also to set a legal precedent to stop the excessive use of force and harassment of people based on their physical appearance or last name.
The Department of Justice has already had to dismiss charges in several of these cases, which reinforces the plaintiffs’ position: the mass deportation system is “hunting” its own citizens in its quest to meet political quotas.
Filed under: Citizens sue Trump
