Blumenthal & Robert Garcia to Hold Forum to Receive Testimony from Five U.S. Citizens Assaulted, Illegally Detained by DHS

[WASHINGTON, DC] - On Tuesday, December 9, 2025 at 3 PM ET in 216 Hart Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will hold a bicameral public forum to receive testimony from five U.S. citizens who have experienced unconstitutional detentions by agents of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

DHS continues to lie about its treatment of American citizens. In October, Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem falsely claimed, "[t]here's no American citizens that have been arrested or detained" and the account @DHSgov posted just last week, "ICE does NOT arrest or deport U.S. citizens."

On Tuesday, the following Americans will share their personal experiences being assaulted, detained, and denied their constitutional rights by DHS agents:

• Wilmer Chavarria (Vermont): Mr. Chavarria, a school superintendent, was detained after returning to the U.S. from visiting family overseas, interrogated for hours, and had his personal and professional devices searched without his consent.
• Dayanne Figueroa (Illinois): Ms. Figueroa was sideswiped while driving to work and then violently pulled from her car by DHS agents; while detained for hours, she suffered internal trauma, having recently undergone two kidney surgeries weeks before the incident, as well as injuries to her wrists from being handcuffed.
• Javier Ramirez (California): Mr. Ramirez was violently assaulted by DHS agents and held for four days, where he was denied adequate treatment for diabetes, leading to severe complications.
• George Retes (California): Mr. Retes is a U.S. Army veteran who was violently arrested and detained during a raid at his job site in Southern California and detained for three days, during which he was refused the ability to contact his family during this time, and missed his daughter's birthday.
• Andrea Velez (California): Ms. Velez was on her way to work in downtown Los Angeles when she got caught up in an immigration raid and was falsely charged with assaulting an officer, a charge that was later dropped.

In October, Blumenthal and Garcia opened an inquiry into the increasing detention of U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents. DHS has since refused to respond to multiple requests from Blumenthal and Garcia for information on the number of U.S. citizens who have been detained by ICE or CBP.

-30-

• Print
• Email
• Share
• Tweet