By Andy O’Brien
On April 14, the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU) filed a lawsuit claiming federal immigration agents violated a Portland resident’s civil rights during a January surge in federal immigration enforcement. The civil rights group argues that immigration agents racially profiled, arrested, and unlawfully detained civil engineer Juan Sebastián Carvajal-Muñoz, violating his Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Carvajal-Muñoz in downtown Portland as he drove to work on Jan. 22. He reportedly showed his REAL ID through the window. REAL IDs are given to noncitizens who have lawful status. According to the ACLU, although Carvajal-Muñoz complied with the agents’ directions, agents still used force, including tasers and handcuffs, as they removed him from his car and placed him in an unmarked vehicle.
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The ACLU also alleges that the agents left Carvajal-Muñoz’s car running with his personal belongings in the open vehicle. A bystander drove Carvajal-Muñoz’s car into a parking lot, according to Maine Morningstar.
Carvajal-Muñoz, who earned a master’s degree from the University of Maine, had no criminal record and was in the country on a work visa. The ACLU claims Carvajal-Muñoz was afraid for his life, especially after immigration officials shot Renée Good in Minnesota earlier in the month.
“Federal agents came to Maine and terrorized entire communities, just as they have done throughout the country,” said Carvajal-Muñoz in a statement to the ACLU. “All people should be free to move about their communities safely, knowing they will not be violently arrested by masked agents simply for driving while Latino. I came to Maine to study engineering and work hard. Even though I followed all the rules, federal agents targeted me based on my race. I hope this case can prevent agents from violating other people’s constitutional rights so the United States can fulfill its promise of being a beacon of freedom, opportunity, and safety for all people.”
The lawsuit argues that federal agents violated Carvajal-Muñoz’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights by “racially profiling and stopping him with no reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, unlawfully arresting him, using excessive force, and unjustifiably prolonging his detention.” Agents knew nothing about Carvajal-Muñoz except for his physical appearance and the fact that the vehicle was registered in his name, the lawsuit alleges. It argues that agents refused to examine documents Carvajal-Muñoz provided that would prove his legal status.
“Over the next 16 hours, agents physically and psychologically harmed Mr. Carvajal-Muñoz,” the ACLU stated in a press release. “He was placed in shackles and moved between various unmarked vehicles and locations in Maine and Massachusetts, alongside other detainees, all of whom were people of color. At one point, agents engaged in what appeared to be a cruel ‘joke,’ pretending to return him to Portland, only to take him to an ICE facility in Burlington, MA.”
The lawsuit seeks to hold ICE accountable under the Maine Civil Rights Act, which allows individuals to sue over violations committed by federal agents. The ACLU believes that the case could reestablish the right to sue federal officers for violations under state law after the Supreme Court has weakened citizens’ abilities to bring such suits against the federal government.President Donald Trump’s administration claimed the ICE surge was to target “the worst of the worst,” but a Bangor Daily News iInvestigation revealed that just 11 of the 200 people arrested during Maine’s January surge had criminal records.
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the early May 2026 print edition of Amjambo Africa.
