Brian Gavidia, plaintiff in lawsuit alleging ‘blatant racial profiling’, says encounter with agent has left lasting scars
B
rian Gavidia can’t sleep. It’s been three months since federal immigration agents accosted him, twisting his arm and pushing him into a metal fence outside a Los Angeles tow yard as he tried to tell them he is a US citizen.
Now, he frequently finds himself awake late into the night, wondering: are they coming for me?
Gavidia, 29, is a plaintiff in a major lawsuit filed by the ACLU and immigrant advocacy groups, accusing Donald Trump’s administration of “blatant racial profiling” in operations in Los Angeles as part of the president’s mass deportation campaign. Gavidia felt some relief in July when a judge found that federal agents were stopping people based on their race, language or job, and ordered the government to halt its indiscriminate raids.
