{"id":551163,"date":"2026-01-29T08:37:25","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:37:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/551163\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:37:25","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T08:37:25","slug":"houston-man-says-he-was-stopped-by-ice-despite-being-a-u-s-citizen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/551163\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston man says he was stopped by ICE despite being a U.S. citizen"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong> \u2013 A Houston man says he was stopped by ICE agents earlier this month while driving to work \u2014 even though he is a U.S. citizen \u2014 an encounter he believes was driven by racial profiling.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">David Flores, a third-generation U.S. citizen, says the stop happened January 1 as he was driving along Veterans Memorial Drive near Beltway 8 in north Harris County.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Flores says a black SUV began following him before activating its lights. When he pulled over, he says three additional unmarked vehicles arrived, boxing him in. In total, Flores estimates eight ICE agents surrounded his truck.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI looked at them and I was like, \u2018ICE?\u2019\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Flores says agents initially spoke to him in Spanish. He told them he speaks English and then informed them he is a U.S. citizen. He says he offered to show his passport and retrieved it from his bag after telling agents what he was doing.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey started talking to me in Spanish, and I told them, \u2018English \u2014 I speak English,\u2019\u201d Flores said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">After reviewing his passport, Flores says another agent approached and asked for his Social Security number \u2014 a request he refused.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Flores believes he was targeted because of the vehicle he was driving.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI think they were profiling me because of my truck,\u201d he said. \u201cI drive a pickup, and a lot of Hispanic people use trucks for work.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Flores is an IT technician and uses the pickup truck daily for his job.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">He says the encounter ended abruptly after he took out his phone to record the interaction.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 kDvXdO font_openSans articleList\">\n<li class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__StackBase-sc-1fnzlkn-7 ecGWWE iQviKm\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cAs soon as I started recording, they just walked away,\u201d Flores said. \u201cThey all left at the same time. No explanation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Flores says he was not cited or accused of committing any traffic violation. He also says this was the first time he has ever been stopped by ICE.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The experience, he says, has stayed with him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cEvery time I\u2019m on the road now, I always think they\u2019re gonna pull me over again,&#8221; said Flores.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">KPRC 2 spoke with immigration attorney Ruby Powers about what rights U.S. citizens have in situations like this.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThey have the right to remain silent,\u201d said Powers. \u201cA US citizen does not have to show proof of citizenship unless they are entering at the border and close to the border, or the internal border. And the situation that we\u2019re discussing at hand was inside the United States, in Houston area. So you don\u2019t have to have proof of your citizenship on you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Powers says recent national attention surrounding ICE enforcement has heightened fear \u2014 not just among immigrants, but among U.S. citizens as well.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">She advises anyone who finds themselves in a similar situation to remain calm, avoid escalating the encounter, and document what happens if possible.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">&#8220;It\u2019s probably best to remain calm as much as possible to try not to instigate any altercation,&#8221; said Powers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">KPRC has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment and we are waiting to hear back.<\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2026 by KPRC Click2Houston &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2013 A Houston man says he was stopped by ICE agents earlier this month while driving to&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":551164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[4345,5410,409,42832,61009,358,3187],"class_list":{"0":"post-551163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-ice","10":"tag-immigration","11":"tag-immigration-law","12":"tag-immigration-rights","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115977482804045802","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}