When Bena Apreala, a 29-year-old Black man, went out for a run on a Boston parkway, he was suddenly cornered and stopped by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. But it wasn’t just random — Apreala says he was racially profiled.
"They hopped out, at least one was armed, they had on tactical vests and driving huge unmarked cars. Nobody was helping me. I was by myself and anything could have happened to me,” Apreala told CBS Boston. According to his account, none of the officers ever stopped to explicitly identify themselves, but the agency has confirmed it was indeed ICE.
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In fear, he took out his cell phone to capture the encounter. The video Apreala took shows the agents asking if they could examine his tattoos, but he refused. “Am I free to go? I don’t have to show you anything if I’m free to go,” he replied. Apreala was then told that he matched the description of someone they were looking for, but he remained skeptical. "They asked me what are you doing around here, where are you from, what are your whereabouts, why are you jogging down here. I was extremely nervous in light of everything going on in the nation. I was absolutely being racially profiled, no question about it," Apreala said. "People were jogging up and down the Parkway and I was the only one stopped and accosted."
Since the incident, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken on Apreala's case. “This incident raises serious constitutional questions and is disturbing on a human level,” said Rahsaan Hall, Director of the Racial Justice Program at the ACLU in a statement.
Local politicians including Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley and Mayor Walsh were outraged by the situation — and in addition to reaching out to him, Walsh has tasked federal authorities with looking into the case. "Incidents like this have no place in our city, have no place for this in our country,” said Mayor Walsh at a press conference this week.
But Apreala is just one of the many who have been targeted by recently questionable ICE actions, with random raids surfacing in New York, California, and more as of late. Arrests have been widespread, and more than 2,000 people have recently been detained across the country. Still, the agency has blamed their recent crackdowns on the coronavirus pandemic.
What's more is that Apreala’s case follows a newly released policy that will fast-track deportations across the country starting October 16 — and it will give agents the ability to arrest and deport undocumented immigrants without a hearing in front of a judge. It was also announced that ICE is planning to increase targeted arrests in sanctuary cities like Boston, as reported by the Washington Post.
While there is no other information about the progress of Apreala's case at this time, the ACLU is determined to fight what they describe as clear racial profiling, and will continue to represent Apreala throughout.