Rights are just ‘words on a page’ if federal agents can ignore them

The killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of ICE agents in Minnesota rightly sparked outrage over the misconduct of federal agents. But these abuses don’t have to lead to death to be grave violations of constitutional rights.

In October, ProPublica published a list of 170 documented cases of American citizens detained by ICE, and what those individuals endured in the process. One such case is that of George Retes, and it serves as a microcosm of some of what the mass deportations agenda is doing to Americans. 

On July 10, 2025, George Retes was driving to his job as a security guard on a Southern California farm when he encountered an ICE roadblock surrounded by protestors. Next thing he knew, his car was filled with tear gas and swarmed by federal agents who broke his windows and pepper-sprayed him. They proceeded to drag him out of the car, push him to the ground and put their knees on his body to immobilize him. From there he was transported to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.

George says he was detained in an isolation cell for three days, incommunicado, without being presented to a judge or being allowed to contact legal representation. He was denied access to a shower to wash away the tear gas and pepper spray. Eventually, he was released without being charged with a crime and with no explanation for what happened.

George’s detention came in the midst of a raid in Camarillo, California, on a marijuana farm as part of the government’s “mass deportations” agenda. But George isn’t an immigrant to be deported — he is a U.S. citizen born and raised in Ventura, Calif., and an Iraq war veteran. 

Soon after his detention, George would find out how challenging it is to hold the federal government accountable. He decided to try anyway and filed a complaint against the federal agencies involved in his detention under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which he was required to do before he could sue. On February 18, he was finally able to file a lawsuit.

Retes argues that his detention violated his constitutional rights—including his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights. “Any detention has to comply with the demands of the U.S. Constitution,” said Marie Miller, an attorney with the Institute for Justice, who’s representing him. “For any detention, you need reasonable suspicion to stop someone, and probable cause to arrest them,” Miller further explained. “There’s not really evidence that officers could [reasonably] believe this U.S. citizen had broken the law, much less immigration law.”

Regardless of what authority ICE may claim to have to detain George, they have none that can trump the U.S. Constitution.

How could federal agents have known that George is a U.S. citizen? He told them, explicitly, and even told them he’s a veteran. 

“I’m a [U.S.] citizen, I’m just trying to get to work,” he said. Miller says George even told the agents where his ID was inside the car. “No one seemed interested,” she stated. “They didn’t seem to disbelieve him. They just seemed to not care.”

This seeming indifference from federal agents regarding the questionable legality of their purported actions — not to mention their brutality — should alarm every American.

George has been using his First Amendment right to free speech to raise awareness about his case— and the federal government reacted to that. In September, the Department of Homeland Security posted on X that George “became violent” when federal agents confronted him for “blocking” their route. “CBP arrested Retes for assault,” the post reads, and denied that U.S. citizens were wrongfully arrested. But if this is true, why didn’t they charge him with a crime? And why didn’t they address George’s claims that he was held incommunicado for three days?

The tactics employed by federal agents against George and against other individuals—some of which we’ve seen with the killings of Good and Pretti— are unacceptable for anyone, whether they’re here with government permission or not. We cannot normalize this behavior in America.

As Miller poignantly pointed out, “No one is above the law. . . If federal officers can violate our basic rights with impunity, then those rights are just words on a page.”

Rights should never be simply words on a page. Like our Founding Fathers explained, they are inalienable and should be respected— especially by the government, whose very job is to protect them. No “mass deportations” agenda can involve the violation of Constitutional rights. 

Individual rights are being erased and basic freedoms sacrificed on the altar of “mass deportations.” This is beyond the pale. Retes took an oath to uphold this nation’s core values as a member of the military, and now he is upholding those values at home. “I’m calling out the federal government not just for what they did to me, but for what they are doing to others. I’m continuing to fight for this country, now as a civilian.” 

We should take inspiration from him, and demand better of our government. Its agents don’t have to shoot you to violate your rights, and their abuses (long suffered by immigrants) are already showing up at Americans’ doors.

Agustina Vergara Cid is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Follow her on X: @agustinavcid