Video posted on social media showed two plainclothes Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents appearing to handcuff a man at a Las Vegas airport while he screamed in terror.Subscribe to read this story ad-freeGet unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The incident happened Monday night in Terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport.
The footage showed the man on the ground with one hand behind his back as the two agents surrounded him.As the person filming the incident asks what’s going on, the male agent pulls a hoodie over his head.
“I don’t know what they’re doing,” the man on the ground screams.The two agents then walk away, leaving the man with a handcuff attached to one arm.
The female agent, who is wearing a face mask, also covers her head with a hoodie as she walks away.Las Vegas police confirmed that the two people in the video trying to handcuff the man were ICE agents.
Police also said that officers conducted a records check and “found no outstanding warrants on the individual.” “They removed the handcuff from his wrist and notified ICE,” Las Vegas police said in a statement.The Department of Homeland Security identified the man as Phu Nguyen and said he is a citizen of Australia who overstayed his visa.
The two agents left without arresting Nguyen, “to de-escalate the situation and for officer safety,” after a crowd formed, a DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement.Nguyen, 57, was arrested on Tuesday at his flight departing the Los Angeles International Airport on July 14, the statement said.
Online records show that he is being held at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California.It’s not clear if Nguyen has obtained an attorney.
DHS said Nguyen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013, “with permission to remain in the United States until May 26, 2015.” “Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws,” the agency said in its statement.“He will re...