Attorneys announced Tuesday that they have filed a $1-million damage claim against the Trump administration alleging that the recent arrest of a 15-year-old boy outside Arleta High School amounted to the “unconstitutional racial profiling” of a U.S. citizen.
The claim, filed on Monday according to paperwork provided by attorneys, cited “conduct of ICE agents and Border Patrol agents that caused the false arrest, false imprisonment, assault, [and] battery” of the boy on Aug. 11.
The Trump administration on Tuesday denied any wrongdoing, while also acknowledging an instance of mistaken identity.
A claim provides a government entity the opportunity to assess and compensate alleged victims. If a claim is denied, parties have the option to pursue litigation. The claim was filed with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
According to school district officials, federal agents drew weapons on the boy, who is a student with a disability, and handcuffed him before his mother persuaded the agents that her son was not the individual they were looking for.
The boy had been sitting in a car outside Arleta High while his sister was registering for school. The boy is a student at San Fernando High School.
“The ICE agents and Border Patrol agents falsely claimed that [the student] was a suspect of a crime,” said the cover letter, which was signed by attorney Luis A. Carrillo. “However, this was false and ICE and Border Patrol agents racially profiled [the student] while he was merely sitting his car waiting for his family member. [The student] is a severe special needs young man who was not the suspect of a crime.”
While acknowledging a mistake, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security denied targeting a school and also denied racial profiling.
“Allegations that Border Patrol targeted Arleta High School are FALSE,” the department statement said. “Agents were conducting a targeted operation on [a] criminal illegal alien.”
“What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is if they are illegally in the U.S. — NOT their skin color, race, or ethnicity,” the statement said. “America’s brave men and women are removing murderers, MS-13 gang members, pedophiles, rapists — truly the worst of the worst from Golden State communities.”
Officials added: “This is a case study of billboard law firms trying to turn family resemblance into racial animus to collect clicks, clout, and cash.”
The department also praised the mother for being cooperative in an investigation that led to the arrest — later that same day — of the boy’s cousin, an unauthorized immigrant who, according to the department, had a 2021 misdemeanor conviction for carrying a concealed weapon.
In discussing the Arleta High incident, L.A. schools Supt. Alberto Carvalho talked of what he learned from the family, from school administrators and from reviewing video at a recent news conference.
“Individuals with weapons approached the vehicle, told them to get out,” Carvalho said at Gardena High on Aug. 14. This is a child with disabilities who, as a result of his disabilities, has a difficult time decoding, communicating, understanding. He was placed in handcuffs. Mom protested and said, ‘You have the wrong person.’ Finally, the officers realized that, in fact, this was a case of mistaken identity.”
Carvalho added: “What I find absolutely reprehensible beyond this encounter, beyond this encounter alone, is the fact that before the officers left, and the mom told me this… the most insulting thing, the most disturbing thing, before the officers left, they told this 15-year-old boy with disabilities that, ‘At least you would have an exciting story to tell his friends on the first day of school.’”
“There’s nothing exciting about being handcuffed in front of your mom in front of the high school,” Carvalho said. “There’s nothing exciting. In fact, this is child abuse, so we are working with that mom as well… He was released, but the trauma in his mind has not been released. I spoke with the mom. He cries. He is upset. He is depressed. He keeps asking if this is going to happen again. And the question that the mom cannot answer, and I certainly can’t answer either, is when he asks: ‘Why did it happen to me?’”
Federal officials have said no place is off limits — including schools — as they press to reach President Trump’s goal of 1 million deportations per year.
Immigration agents attempted to enter two Los Angeles elementary schools in April, but the principals turned them away. The Arleta High incident renewed concerns because it happened on the campus perimeter. Federal agents also recently arrested — on Aug. 8 — an 18-year-old Reseda High senior as he was walking the family dog near their Van Nuys home.
Federal officials have defended the arrest — and ongoing detention — of the Reseda High student, Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, as appropriate because they say he is in the country illegally.
Homeland Security also has provided previous statements about the Arleta High incident.
“The mother of the 15-year-old, who is cousins with the alleged MS-13 gang member, was on the scene and worked with Border Patrol,” a statement said. “The mother informed Border Patrol that they are often confused for each other. She helped give Border Patrol the information to help apprehend him later in the day.”
“Once again, our agents keeping streets and the American tax-payer safe from criminals and we will keep doing so until the mission is accomplished,” said U.S. Border Patrol Sector Chief Gregory Bovino in a social media post.
“This illegal alien from El Salvador was arrested in Pacoima, CA.,” Bovino posted on social media about the boy’s cousin. “Not only was he illegally in the United States, but he also has a misdemeanor in 2021 for ‘carrying a concealed weapon on person.’ He is also suspected of being a member of the MS-13 street gang,” Bovina posted on social media.
School board member Kelly Gonez, who represents the Arleta High area, said the officers acted improperly.
“Such actions — violently detaining a child just outside a public school — are absolutely reprehensible and should have no place in our country,” Gonez said in a social media post.
