Federal immigration agents hailed by President Trump as “patriots” have been using banned chokeholds and other dangerous physical restraints on citizens and immigrants amid nationwide deportation efforts, according to a new investigation.
More than 40 cases over the past year showed agents using chokeholds, neck restraints, or prolonged pressure on people’s backs or necks, the ProPublica investigation found. The report was based on a review of social media footage, legal filings, and local news reports.
In several cases, federal agents placed their arms around civilians’ necks or pressed their knees into restrained individuals, both moves that can restrict a person’s breathing. In Houston, an agent is said to have put a 16-year-old U.S. citizen in a chokehold, leaving red welts on his neck.
“I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said the teenager, Arnoldo Bazan, who was collared when ICE agents made a beeline for his Mexican father in a McDonald’s as he took the tenth grader to school.
DHS accused Bazan’s father of ramming a federal vehicle, though he was never charged, and video reviewed by ProPublica did not support the claim.
In Los Angeles, a masked agent pressed a knee into a handcuffed woman’s neck as she appeared to lose consciousness. “I knew that the amount of pressure being placed on the back of my neck could definitely hurt me,” said Amanda Trebach, an intensive care nurse, who had apparently rankled ICE goons by monitoring them during a sting operation.
In Massachusetts, an ICE agent jabbed fingers into a young father’s neck and arteries as he resisted being separated from his family, causing him to convulse, according to the report.
Federal law enforcement agencies banned chokeholds and similar tactics after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, restricting them unless deadly force is authorized. ProPublica found nearly 20 cases that appeared to violate that standard.
About two dozen additional videos reportedly show officers kneeling on people’s necks or backs or keeping them face down while handcuffed, tactics that are discouraged because of the risk of asphyxiation.
Former law enforcement officials who reviewed the footage described the conduct as alarming. “I don’t remember putting anybody in a chokehold. Period,” said Eric Balliet, a former Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol official.
Former Seattle police chief and Customs and Border Protection commissioner Gil Kerlikowske said, “If this was one of my officers, he or she would be facing discipline.”
The conduct has drawn special attention in the wake of a fatal shooting in Minneapolis last week. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and other Trump officials have defended an ICE agent who fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good, insisting that he “followed his training.”
DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said agents use “the least amount of force necessary,” while White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson praised their “utmost professionalism.”
Experts reviewing multiple videos said the behavior was unjustified. “Your arm underneath the neck, like a choking motion? No!” said Marc Brown, a former police officer who taught ICE agents.
“That’s the kind of action which should get you fired,” said former Baltimore police official Danny Murphy.
DHS does not publicly track how often agents use such restraints, and there is no indication that officers involved in the incidents have been disciplined.
The Daily Beast has contacted DHS for comment.
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