“You Have No Rights”: ICE Agents Recorded Mocking Detainees, Laughing About Violence
North Palm Beach, Fla. — A secretly recorded video from a May 2025 traffic stop in Florida shows federal immigration agents casually joking about shooting people, using headlocks, and deploying Tasers for what they described as “slow compliance,” even as an 18-year-old U.S. citizen was detained during the encounter.
The recording was made on May 2, 2025, by Kenny Laynez-Ambrosio, a U.S. citizen who was a passenger in a van stopped by Florida Highway Patrol officers in North Palm Beach. Federal agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) were called to the scene after officers determined some occupants were undocumented.
According to reporting by CBS News, Laynez secretly recorded audio while handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. In the clip, agents can be heard laughing as they discuss using force during the stop. One voice says, “We’re going to end up shooting some of them,” while another jokingly references a “$30,000 bonus,” adding, “It makes it worth it.”
During the stop, one man was placed in a headlock and another was shocked with a Taser. In the recording, agents refer to the use of force as routine and mock the detainees. At one point, an agent tells Laynez he has “no rights,” despite Laynez being a U.S. citizen born and raised in the United States.
Follow The Coffman Chronicle on NewsBreak for daily breaking political coverage.
Laynez later told CBS News the incident was traumatic and left him feeling his civil rights had been violated. Advocates argue the footage reflects a troubling culture inside federal immigration enforcement that normalizes violence and treats hesitation or confusion as resistance.
The video became public in July 2025 after being obtained by journalists and circulated by major outlets, including The Guardian and CBS News. As of the latest reporting, no disciplinary action against the agents involved has been publicly announced.
The reference to a “$30,000 bonus” remains unsubstantiated. Federal agencies have not confirmed the existence of any bonus tied to use-of-force incidents, and officials have not explained the comment.
The footage has resurfaced on social media in recent days amid renewed scrutiny of ICE tactics nationwide, prompting fresh calls for accountability and oversight of federal immigration enforcement.
Follow The Coffman Chronicle on NewsBreak for daily breaking political coverage.