A U.S. Army veteran, George Retes, says he was unfairly held for three days in an immigration raid in California, even though he is a U.S. citizen and a former military member. Retes, 25, who works as a security guard at a cannabis farm, told TMZ Live that ICE agents surrounded his car during a protest in Camarillo last week. He says they shouted confusing orders, then broke his driver’s side window and pulled him out.
As reported by TMZ and ABC, Retes claims he was hit with tear gas and pepper spray during the arrest and was not allowed to show his ID or explain that he is a citizen. He was taken to a federal facility in downtown Los Angeles, where he says he was put on suicide watch for three days without being told why. Retes said, “They did not let me shower, they didn’t give me a phone call. They didn’t let me speak to an attorney. They never told me what I was arrested for… so the entire time I was in there… I was covered in OC spray and tear gas.”
Due to this, he missed his 3-year-old daughter’s birthday. He also says his hands burned all night from the pepper spray. While this sounds out of nowhere, I can confirm that suicide watch in prisons and detention centers is taken particularly seriously, and it is very likely that he was denied these things. However, if the inmate doesn’t show any reasons to be on suicide watch, it is a big hit to your rights as a citizen.
ICE detained a US Army veteran and took away his rights for ‘no reason’
When he was released, officers told him he faced no charges and sent him away without helping him get home. It was a horrible way to treat someone who gave four years to serving the country. However, ICE has gone too often, and is at the point of being booted from cities over these actions.
Retes, who served four years in the Army, including a deployment to Iraq in 2019, said “No one should be put in this position. It doesn’t matter if you’re an immigrant, it doesn’t matter the color of your skin. It doesn’t matter if you voted left, it doesn’t matter if you voted right… No one deserves to be treated this way. It shouldn’t have happened and I hope this never happens to anyone ever again.” He now plans to sue everyone involved.
This happened during large federal immigration raids in Southern California, which led to over 360 arrests and one death. Retes was held alongside Jonathan Caravello, a U.S. citizen and professor at California State University Channel Islands, who was also detained without being allowed to contact family or a lawyer. Caravello was later released on bond.
Published: Jul 18, 2025 01:01 pm