One of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit over tactics used during federal immigration enforcement raids in Los Angeles said he voted for President Trump, but became disillusioned by White House policies after he was arrested in June by federal agents.
Brian Gavidia, a 29-year-old American citizen, joined the lawsuit — the subject of a court battle that is still playing out — after he was detained by federal agents outside his business in mid-June. The Montebello resident said he is convinced he was targeted because he is Latino.
“Every time I see it on video, it’s like a bad memory that’s in my brain,” Gavidia said of the arrest.
Gavidia said federal agents were conducting an immigration enforcement operation June 12 in the San Gabriel Valley community, so he went to see what was happening. Video of the arrest showed an agent pushing Gavidia against a wall and demanding he prove his citizenship.
Gavidia said an agent asked for the name of the hospital where he was born. In the video, Gavidia can he heard yelling, “I was born here in the states, East LA bro!”
He said agents took his phone and Real ID. He was eventually released and given back his phone.
Gavidia said he never received his ID.
A new kind of government messaging is drawing outrage from immigration advocates and experts. Mekahlo Medina reports for the NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2025.
“I truly believe I was targeted because of my race,” he said. “I believe I was racially profiled. I believe I was attacked because I was walking while brown. “Where is the freedom? Where is the justice? We live in America. This is why I’m fighting today. This is why I’m protecting the Constitution.”
Gavidia, who had “We the People…” — part of the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution — tattooed on his back six years ago, said he now carries a mini copy of the Constitution of the United States in his pocket. He also carries red cards that explain immigrant rights and helps with know-your-rights workshops.
Gavidia is one of seven plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit that resulted in a court order preventing federal agents based on certain factors. In the complaint, they asked the court to prevent the federal government from conducting raids “without reasonable suspicion or probable cause.” The lawsuit accused the agents of targeting a specific ethnicity by going to workspaces where they are commonly employed, mentioning operations at local car washes and outside Home Depot stores.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has denied the accusation that agents are after a particular group.
In an Aug. 1 ruling, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling to maintain the temporary restraining order, granted by a federal judge, over how the federal government conducts immigration enforcement operations in Southern California.
A Trump administration attorney presented the government’s case to a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco for a stay, pending appeal of the temporary restraining order. The appeals court denied the motion.
The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to block the lower court ruling over a decision that placed restrictions on the ability of federal officers to conduct immigration stops in the Los Angeles area. Conan Nolan reports for the NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025.
The ruling affirms the order issued July 11 that granted the restraining order requested by immigrant advocates to restrict federal immigration enforcement operations in Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California.Judge Maame E. Frimpong’s order barred the detention of people unless the officer or agent “has reasonable suspicion that the person to be stopped is within the United States in violation of U.S. immigration law.”
On Thursday, the Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to lift the court order barring federal agents from making immigration arrests.
The aggressive immigration enforcement operations that began in June in Los Angeles are part of President Trump mass deportation plan, a central promise of his second campaign for the White House. Gavadia said he voted for President Trump, but now views his decision as a mistake.
“I believe it was a mistake because he ran on lies,” Gavadia said. “He said criminals.
“If this was going to happen, do you think we would have voted? We’re humans. We’re not going to destroy our community. We’re not going to destroy our people.
“I feel guilty.”
Through Aug. 1, nearly 56,600 migrants had been taken into ICE detention since the start of President Trump’s second term, according NBC News, which used ICE data both public and internal as well as data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency.
About 29% of those in detention had criminal convictions; 24.7% had pending criminal charges; 46.8% were listed as “other immigration violator;” and 11.9% were fast-tracked for deportation.