A United States citizen living in Northern Virginia is reconsidering his support for President Donald Trump after an encounter in which he said he was handcuffed by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Jensy Machado was driving to work on Wednesday with two other men when he was stopped not too far from his home in Manassas, he told Spanish-language news outlet Telemundo 44. The outlet's sister station, NBC4 Washington, covered the story in English.
Machado said his pickup truck was surrounded by agents, one of whom walked up to him with a gun in his hand and asked about a man Machado had never heard of.
The agents were looking for a man Machado did not know, but who had claimed he lived at Machado's address, he said.
Machado was placed in handcuffs and grilled about his legal status, he told the news outlet.
"I told him I was an American citizen, and he looked at his other partner like, you know, smiling, like saying, 'Can you believe this guy? Because he asked the other guy, 'Do you believe him?'" Machado said.
NBC4 verified that Machado is a U.S. citizen. He was released after showing agents his driver's license, he said. The two men who were with him were taken into custody, he told the outlet.
An ICE spokesperson confirmed in a statement sent to HuffPost that Machado was stopped by officers from the agency on Wednesday.
"ICE encountered an individual who matched the description of the subject of an operation while conducting a targeted enforcement action," the spokesperson said. "ICE officers engaged the individual to verify his identity based on reasonable suspicion, including a likeness to the description of the target."
The spokesperson added that officers "immediately" determined not to detain Machado after confirming he was not the person they were looking for, and was not "subject to removal."
The experience has made Machado reconsider his stance on Trump.
"I voted for Trump last election," Machado told Telemundo 44, adding that he believed the administration would be going after "criminals."
He didn't think immigration authorities would be targeting "every Hispanic-looking" person or assuming "we are all illegals." But now, he said, ICE agents are "just following Hispanic people."
Democratic Virginia Rep. Don Beyer shared Machado's story on X, stating, "The man is a Trump voter, but says he is reconsidering his support after he was targeted for being Hispanic."
Machado's account comes amid the Trump administration committing to a series of aggressive immigration enforcement policies. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem posted on X earlier this week that she accompanied ICE in raids across the Northern Virginia area.