The 79-year-old California car wash owner and a US citizen are among those looking for millions of people from the government after federal agents tackle him on the ground.
California Wash owners have worked and arrested “obstruction” ice arrest
Rafie Ollah Shouhed filed multi-million dollar tort claims against DHS and ICE, claiming he was “illegally assaulted” during ice surgery.
Rebecca Shouhed watched surveillance video in horror as one immigration agent knocked the 79-year-old American citizen father to the ground during his car wash business. When he stood up and went outside, the other two worked on him on the pavement.
You can see the agent barreling to her father, Rafie Ollah Shouhed, she said, “bulldosing the hallways like a linebacker.”
Under President Donald Trump’s nationwide immigration crackdown, federal agents have ordered them to actively pursue those they believe are illegally in the country.
The increasingly violent encounters of arrest have resulted in multiple, multi-million dollar tort claims by people, including American citizens, who say they were severely hurt or mistakenly taken into custody during the ice operation.
Homeland Security leaders allegedly suspected of resisting arrest, attacking agents or obstructing law enforcement operations.
“If you place your hands on our law enforcement, we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” DHS Chief Christa Noem said in a September 19 post on social media site X.
Business owners say they want to show the agent’s employee documents
Shawed, the owner of Valley Car Wash in Van Nuis, California, filed a $50 million tort claim on September 26 against DHS and its constituent agencies, including US immigration and customs enforcement, claiming that the agent was “illegal and unlawful assault and abused.”
A DHS spokesperson said in an emailed statement to USA Today that the agent arrested “five illegal foreigners from Guatemala and Mexico who violated our country’s immigration laws” and “were arrested for obstructing operations, assaulting and obstructing federal officers.”
Ice was detained for almost 12 hours, according to allegations of tort. He was not charged with a crime.
James Desimone, the attorney representing the show in his claims, said the car wash owner told the agent to let his employee show his work approval documents. Desimone said the surveillance video revealed that he was “not engaged in any threatening behavior.”
“Instead of talking to him, they immediately rely on extremely cruel power and power,” Desimone said.
Rebecca Shouhed said after watching the video, “I was hooked.” “He had a heart attack. He has three stents in his heart.”
Father Shawed said at a press conference after the September 9 incident that the agent said, “You’re ice and not f-f-ice. You don’t have ice.”
Other recent claims against DHS for “excessive force”
Shouhed’s is not the first tort claim against DHS this year.
In another, the wife and daughter of a farm worker who died in August after an ice attack in a California cannabis greenhouse, claiming to have an ice agent covered in battle gear that used “excessive power,” resulting in a fatal fall that killed Jaime Alanis.
According to his family and the Ventura County Medical Examination Office, Alanis died two days after the attack with a blunt instrument head and neck injury. His widow and daughter each seek $47 million.
Separately, in August, US citizens and Iraq War veteran George filed a tort claim against DHS in search of unspecified damages after an ice agent broke through a car window, arrested him for ice disorders in Southern California, and detained him for three days without access to lawyers.
All three claims were filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which can precede a case in federal court.
The FTCA was created to allow people to sue the federal government when they cause harm to government employees. The Act requires plaintiffs to first file claims with a responsible federal agency before sue in court.
In its 2025 budget report, ICE said its litigation division was defending more than 350 administrative tort claims as of fiscal year 2023, seeking damages of more than $55.5 billion. The agency had paid just $813,565 on the completed bill, according to the report.
“These patterns of agents seem to rely on them to enforce whenever they question or face,” Desimone said.
What the DHS guidelines say about the use of force
A 2018 policy memo, written and distributed during the first Trump administration, provides detailed guidance on when and how homeland security law enforcement officials use force.
They may use forces to control “subjects” in the course of official duties approved by law, and in the defense of themselves and others. To meet the Fourth Amendment standards, DHS guidelines must use force to be “objectively rational” in certain circumstances.
The guidelines also recognize that law enforcement officials are “often forced to make a momentary judgment in a tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situation.” The use of physical forces must be stopped “when resistance stops or when an incident is in control.”
This year, there have been few official consequences for ICE and other federal agents caught on videos dealing with immigrants, protesters, or bystanders.
But in September, an unnamed ice agent was “released from his current duties” after a video was distributed showing him slamming a distraught woman onto the floor inside a New York City immigration court building.
Rebecca Shoed said she is worried about what she should come as Trump’s crackdown spreads.
“No one can hold back this,” she said. “It’s like free for everyone.”
Lauren Villagran, who covers immigration in USA Today, can be contacted at lvillagran@usatoday.com.
