The Argentinian government has come under fire after posting a social media video showing a 60-year-old woman being led away in handcuffs by federal police during an immigration operation in Buenos Aires. The woman, identified only by her initials PLS, was released minutes later, but the video, viewed nearly 1 million times, has become a symbol of President Javier Milei's aggressive immigration policies, inspired by Donald Trump's crackdown in the US.
Video shows woman paraded in handcuffs
The video, set to a heavy metal soundtrack, shows PLS visibly distressed, with one hand bandaged, as text flashes: "Illegal foreigner or criminal record? Out!" Another clip describes her as "a Peruvian national subject to an arrest warrant for fraud and robbery." However, no such warrant existed. PLS, a legal permanent resident since 2006, was subject only to a "whereabouts inquiry" related to a 2021 case, which under Argentine law does not justify arrest.
"They just drove me around the block and said: 'Get out. You're free.' I asked: 'Why did you put me through all this?'" PLS told reporters. She added that her face was everywhere on social media, prompting calls from relatives in Peru, Spain, the US, and Germany asking what she had done.
Lawyer calls detention unlawful propaganda
Lucía Galoppo, a lawyer at the NGO Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS), representing PLS, said: "Her detention was unlawful, and the authorities used it as propaganda for their operations against immigrants." Galoppo sees the case as a striking example of Milei reshaping immigration laws to mirror Trump's, including creating an Argentine version of ICE.
Immigration checks existed before, but now they are more frequent and involve large-scale operations with federal police. Milei has turned raids in poorer neighborhoods into a "public spectacle," Galoppo said.
Milei's decrees tighten immigration rules
Since taking office in December 2023, Milei has bypassed congress to introduce changes by decree. In late July, he invoked an "anti-Argentina" wave since the World Cup to allow deportation of foreigners promoting "messages of hate." Critics noted the irony that Milei himself could be expelled from countries he insulted, like Brazil and Spain. Other decrees end automatic permanent residency for foreigners with Argentine-born children or spouses, and require proof of sufficient financial means, in a country where over 40% of workers are informally employed. Access to public hospitals is now restricted to permanent residents except in emergencies.
Critics say operations are theatrical and unjustified
"The state is manufacturing a problem to manufacture a security-based response," Galoppo said. "Argentina doesn't have an immigration problem." In the 2022 census, immigrants made up only 4.2% of the population, the lowest since 1869. Galoppo believes Milei targets immigrants to create an "internal enemy" and distract from domestic issues like corruption scandals and rising unemployment and poverty despite inflation control.
CELS filed freedom of information requests about immigration operations. Between January 1 and June 26, there were 851 operations, but the government provided details on only 590, in which just 2.2% of foreigners stopped had irregular status. "These operations are highly theatrical, deploying hundreds of police officers in an attempt to imitate raids in the US, but the tiny number of people found to have irregular status shows they are not justified," Galoppo said.
PLS speaks out: 'I've done nothing wrong'
In a lawsuit filed against the state, CELS alleges unlawful deprivation of liberty, degrading treatment, public humiliation, and abuse of authority. PLS, a street food vendor, said she felt ashamed and afraid to leave home after the operation, fearing police. "If I saw a police officer, I was frightened thinking they might arrest me," she said. But she has no intention of leaving: "I've done nothing wrong. I'm not a criminal. I'm someone who works. I liked Argentina, and I want to stay here."
The security ministry and Milei did not respond to requests for comment.
