A Latino man who voted for Donald Trump in November was briefly detained by gun-wielding ICE agents carrying out an immigration sweep in Northern Virginia on Wednesday.
“They’re just following Hispanic people,” said Jensy Machado, an HVAC and sheet metal worker, who was on his way to a job in Manassas when his car was stopped by ICE agents.
“They just got out of the car with the guns in their hands and say, Turn off the car, give me the keys, open the window, you know. Everything was really fast,” Machado said.
Machado said the agents told him they were looking for a man with a detention order who had given Machado’s home address.
“They didn’t ask me for any ID,” Machado said. “I was telling the officer, if I can give him ID, but he said just keep my hands up, not moving. After that, he told me to get out of the car and put the handcuffs on me. And then he went to me and said, How did I get into this country and if I was waiting for a court date or if I have any case.
“I told him I was an American citizen, and he looked at his other partner like, you know, smiling, like, saying, Can you believe this guy? Because he asked the other guy, Do you believe him?” Machado said.
Machado is a naturalized citizen who is now reconsidering his decision to vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
“I was a Trump supporter,” he said. “I voted for Trump last election, but, because I thought it was going to be the things, you know, like, just go against criminals, not every Hispanic looking, like, that they will assume that we are all illegals.”
“That’s what they’re doing, now,” Machado said.
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Chris Graham
