Alabama worker files class-action suit over immigration enforcement

An Alabama construction worker who says he was detained twice by federal immigration agents during workplace raids has filed a class action lawsuit in federal court challenging current immigration enforcement practices. Leonardo Garcia Venegas, a U.S. citizen and concrete worker who lives and works in Baldwin County, filed the suit this week after two incidents at Gulf Coast construction sites in May and June 2025, according to the complaint and his lawyers.

The lawsuit says immigration agents entered at least one site without a warrant, ran past white and Black coworkers and detained workers they identified as Latino. In a May 21 incident in Foley, the complaint says five men in camouflage jumped a perimeter fence and chased Latino crew members while leaving other workers alone. Video cited in the filing shows Venegas being forced to the ground after he began recording; he told officers he was a U.S. citizen and showed an Alabama REAL ID, which the complaint says agents called fake. Venegas was held for more than an hour until an officer confirmed his Social Security number, the suit says. The complaint says he was detained again on June 12 at a partially constructed home in...