A Portland-area woman says Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents smashed her car windows, forcibly removed her from the vehicle, and detained her for nearly seven hours after she filmed an ICE operation in late October. The woman, a U.S. citizen, says she still has not gotten back her cell phone or her engagement ring two weeks later.
U.S. Citizen Says She Was Targeted for Filming
Berenice Garcia-Hernandez, 25, told The Oregonian that she drove to a Chick-fil-A parking lot near Gresham after seeing a Facebook post alerting people about ICE activity in the area. She said she took photos from her fiancé’s car, which has government-issued plates, before driving away.
According to Garcia-Hernandez, that simple act prompted ICE agents to follow her through traffic. Recording law enforcement is protected by the First Amendment as long as a person does not interfere with officers. However, she says the agents continued tailing her, eventually pulling her over and violently removing her from the vehicle.
Also Read
Her case adds to a growing list of incidents in which federal immigration officers have been accused of retaliating against civilians—not for interfering with operations, but for filming them.
DHS Claims She Obstructed Officers
The Department of Homeland Security has not provided details on what probable cause ICE officers had for detaining Garcia-Hernandez. In a statement to The Oregonian, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin accused Garcia-Hernandez of obstructing officers, aggressively following ICE vehicles, driving recklessly, and resisting arrest.
According to McLaughlin, Garcia-Hernandez and another car coordinated to “intimidate” ICE officers.
Garcia-Hernandez’s attorney, Michael Fuller, strongly disputes those claims. He says he has video evidence contradicting DHS’s narrative and calls the agency’s statement false.
Video Footage Shows ICE Following Her
Fuller provided additional footage to Reason magazine. The cell-phone video—taken by Garcia-Hernandez—shows ICE officers trailing her vehicle for roughly two minutes. When she stops at a red light, another ICE vehicle pulls up beside her.
An agent can be heard saying, “Police department, why are you taking photos?”
Garcia-Hernandez responds, “You’re not police. I know who you are.”
The officer replies, “You know you’re in a government vehicle? You just got fired.”
As the light changes, she drives away and the video ends.
Garcia-Hernandez told reporters that when she reached the next red light, ICE agents activated their emergency lights and boxed her in.
Bystanders Recorded the Violent Arrest
Additional bystander footage shows the moment ICE officers broke out her windows and pulled her from the car. One of the ICE vehicles is seen parked perpendicular to hers, blocking her escape.
She was later taken to an ICE detention facility in South Portland, where she says she was held for nearly seven hours. During that time, officers seized her phone and engagement ring. She was released without charges.
Attorney Preparing Lawsuit
On October 31, Fuller sent a letter to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanding the return of Garcia-Hernandez’s belongings and preservation of evidence—an early step toward a potential civil rights lawsuit. He says neither he nor his client has received a response, and her property remains unreturned.
Fuller, whose law firm is also representing another Portland-area U.S. citizen allegedly wrongfully arrested by ICE earlier this fall, criticized DHS for what he described as repeated false or misleading public statements.
“The willingness to lie is unusual because you know these cases end up in court,” Fuller said. “Eventually people review the video, people testify under oath. It’s not a good long-term strategy.”
He added that DHS press releases often go uncorrected, allowing misinformation to shape the public narrative even when video evidence later contradicts official statements.
Garcia-Hernandez Says She Won’t Be Silenced
Garcia-Hernandez says she believes she was targeted simply for trying to warn others about ICE activity and record what she saw happening.
“I think we should continue to use our voices and continue to warn others,” she told The Oregonian. “It is not OK how our people, our community is being treated.”
She emphasized that even as a U.S. citizen, she was detained, dragged from her car, and deprived of her belongings “just because I was taking pictures and videos to warn the community.”
“They were mad because they were getting exposed,” she said.
