CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Cartersville man said ICE agents wrongly detained him at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
The American citizen told Channel 2’s Ashlyn Webb that he’s still shaken by what happened.
John Phillips had made it through TSA, had his ID checked and went through facial recognition before agents stopped him as he was boarding, he said.
“I’ll never approach a door of an aircraft without wondering if there’s guys standing back there,” he said.
It was supposed to be a routine work trip to Las Vegas, but a Delta agent told him the airline was working to upgrade his seat.
He just needed to board last.
Phillips says three ICE agents in tactical gear stopped him in the jet bridge, pinned him to the wall and put him in handcuffs.
He says he didn’t resist but told them he was an American citizen.
“They cuff me and start asking me, ‘What’s your name? What’s your birthday?’” he said.
He says after about five minutes in handcuffs, agents found his Georgia ID and showed him a picture of the man they were actually looking for.
“He looks nothing like me, other than that he’s a white guy and I’m a white guy,” Phillips said.
Agents told him the other man was from England but shared his name and birthday.
Immigration attorney Charles Kuck said ICE still must have probable cause to make an arrest.
“There is no probable cause here. A matching name and birth date is not probable cause,” Kuck said.
Phillips now wants to know how this happened.
“I just am flabbergasted that all of the security that we have at the airport, that they don’t know that I am the John Phillips that lives in Georgia and is not an English guy,” he said.
ICE confirmed the incident but said it is still working on a full statement.
Delta released a statement which read in part:
“Delta employees do not have insight into or control over law enforcement decisions, and our role is to ensure flights operate safely and customers are treated with respect. We are reviewing this event internally and are reaching out to the customer directly.”
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