GEOFF BENNETT: Now to the Trump administration's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement and the case of a U.S.

citizen who was caught in the middle.

Andrea Velez says she was wrongfully arrested this past summer in downtown Los Angeles, swept up in an immigration raid on her way to work.

Velez says she froze, was knocked to the ground by an ICE officer, and despite declaring her citizenship was detained and led to a car.

Fearing she was being kidnapped, she ran toward nearby LAPD officers, when ICE agents caught her and carried her back.

She spent two nights in jail before facing a felony charge for obstructing an officer, a charge the Justice Department dropped two weeks later.

I spoke earlier with Andrea Velez and her attorney, Luis Carrillo.

Thank you both for being with us.

Andrea, we will start with you.

Take us back to that morning.

Your mother and sister had just dropped you off for work.

What happened next?

ANDREA VELEZ, Formerly Detained U.S.

Citizen: Suddenly, I saw these cars swarming in, and I just remembered that they got out their cars that abruptly, and then they just looked like they were just ready to attack and chase.

They never identified themselves as ICE agents.

They just started chasing people.

And I remember watching just people running.

And one of them I think was a street vendor.

And that's when I noticed one coming towards my direction.

And I used my bag as a form of protection to shield myself.

Then I remember that he just got -- and pushed me and slammed me to the floor, to the ground.

He started proceeding to say that I was interfering and that he was going to arrest me.

I asked him for his badge number and his identification and also if he had a warrant.

And he said that I didn't need to know any of that because all I had to look was at his vest.

They were all wearing civilian clothing, sneakers and gaiter masks.

And when he was trying to arrest me, I noticed that there was people filming.

And I started saying my name.

"I'm a U.S.

citizen."

And I started saying my mom's name and her number, because I wasn't sure if she was going to know where I was at.

I just remember thinking like, she's probably going to wait for me to come home and I'm never going to come home.

So that's why I started saying my name.

And then, when he decided to take me inside the car, he took my belongings.

The ICE agent took my belongings.

They left me in the car by myself.

And I remember there was belongings, a backpack, and I remember there was a phone.

I remember there was -- it just looked like a regular car.

And then, when they left me alone, I noticed a helicopter swerving in, and I started hearing the LAPD coming.

And somehow I managed to open the door.

The door unlocked by itself.

And that's when I started running to LAPD, thinking that they could help me.

And I knew that they were there, that they were going to protect me, because they have uniforms on.

And one of them said, it's OK.

And he just told me to put my hands behind my back and to face - - like, face the front.

Out of nowhere, I noticed that one of the ICE agents was coming.

And he said: "She's mine."

And then they let them take me.

And that's when I felt like -- I felt like -- like there's nothing I can do.

I wasn't resisting or anything.

And the ICE agent decided to make a show out of the whole thing.

And he picked me up from my body and then he just decided to put me down.

And then they took me into the car again.

GEOFF BENNETT: He said, "She's mine," physically picked you up off the ground and took you back to the car?

ANDREA VELEZ: Yes.

Yes, correct.

GEOFF BENNETT: When you told that ICE agent that you were a U.S.

citizen, what was the response?

ANDREA VELEZ: It didn't seem like they cared.

I even, at one point in the car, I -- they were talking about how many bodies they got that day.

They then -- the driver, he proceeded to say that I was an alleged U.S.

citizen.

So he didn't ever bother checking my identification, not until we were already inside there, inside the place, yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Mr.

Carrillo, what is the status of Andrea's case today?

LUIS CARRILLO, Attorney for Andrea Velez: They dismissed the criminal charges against her in the federal courts.

We have filed a claim, which is the precursor to a lawsuit against the federal government, because they had no basis to arrest her at all.

And so what we have seen -- we represent nine U.S.

citizens who were manhandled, beaten, thrown to the ground.

And the ICE agents or Border Patrol agents never acknowledged their pleas when they were saying, I'm a U.S.

citizen, I'm a U.S.

citizen.

GEOFF BENNETT: What does justice look like for Ms.

Velez and the other people you represent?

LUIS CARRILLO: Justice looks, for us, we're making a monetary claim.

But the ideal is that they stop ICE and Border Patrol, they stop doing this damage to our people.

But they're rounding up everybody that has a brown skin in California.

And it's happening in other places.

We want that to stop.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ms.

Velez, how long were you held and what were the conditions like in the detention center?

ANDREA VELEZ: I was there on Tuesday evening towards Thursday morning.

I remember there wasn't a bed for me.

The ladies that were in there were nice enough to grab me a bed.

They told me that if I wanted to drink water, I had to grab a cup, but the cup, I had to pay for.

And because I didn't have money on my commissary account, I couldn't get water.

One of the nice people there let me borrow their cup for just to drink.

And then, later that day, this lady, she was getting out that day and she was nice enough to give me her cup and her fork, her spork, so I could eat that day.

So they had given rice and chicken in the, like, dinner, so I was able to eat a little bit of that.

GEOFF BENNETT: You have been working remotely because you're afraid to go downtown; is that right?

What has this experience been like for you?

How has it changed you?

ANDREA VELEZ: It's been challenging, just because you're not safe outside.

And now that the -- that they are still rounding up people, it's every day.

It's a fear, like where are they going to be at?

Like, you don't know what's going to happen, yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: Andrea Velez, Luis Carrillo, we thank you both for your time.

ANDREA VELEZ: Thank you.

LUIS CARRILLO: And thank you for your interest in Andrea's life.