US citizens, legal resident detained during SoCal immigration raids filing claims against government

A group of U.S. citizens and a legal resident who were detained during immigration raids in Southern California are filing claims against the federal government.

Video shows Cary Lopez Alvarado as she was arrested by immigration agents. She was nine months pregnant at the time and claims her baby was born early because of this.

"I only thought about my stomach, and when they were shoving me to put the handcuffs on, I was scared because I almost fell," she said at a press conference.

"The ICE agents were brutal with our people. Not just immigrants, U.S. citizens," said attorney Luis Carrillo.

On Wednesday, attorneys announced federal claims on behalf of five citizens and one legal permanent resident. They claim they were detained because of racial profiling and their civil rights violated.

A U.S. citizen who was detained by masked federal immigration agents in downtown Los Angeles, prompting her family to report a kidnapping to police and sparking allegations of LAPD cooperation with the operation, was released on bond.

"What they were doing is... they had roving patrols looking for our people," Carrillo added.

They showed a number of videos, including one where Javier Ramirez was arrested at his business.

A family is outraged after a man - who they say is a U.S. citizen - was taken into custody Thursday during an ICE raid at his workplace in Montebello.

"I started telling them, hey, you know what, I have my passport. I crossed the border in the morning. I was born in San Bernardino, I have my documents with me, and they didn't care," said Ramirez, who added he was detained for four days and he's diabetic.

"They never checked my blood sugar. Once I was there, they checked it out and it was close to 400 and something," said Ramirez.

Andrea Velez, a U.S. citizen, claims she was detained as well.

"He told me that he was going to arrest me for interfering, and I asked him for identification and his badge number and he didn't want to give me that," Velez said.

Attorneys say all of their clients were accused of interfering with ICE operations. They claim that is false and they want answers from the government.

"The message we're trying to send to the Department of Justice is that we will hold them accountable for the actions of these ICE agents," said attorney Michael Carrillo.

These claims are the first step in these cases. The government now has to respond but there is no timetable for that. After 45 days, the attorneys can file a lawsuit.