Teen Claims Immigration Agents Boasted Of $1,500 Bounty During His Arrest: Report

LOS ANGELES, CA — A San Fernando Valley high school student who was arrested by immigration agents earlier this month told a former teacher that he overheard the masked men who seized him brag that they would receive $1,500 for his arrest, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The student, 18-year-old Benjamin Guerrero-Cruz, who lives with his family in Van Nuys, remains in custody at the federal Adelanto detention center after his Aug. 8 arrest. He was captured by the agents while walking his dog, the Times reported.

Guerrero-Cruz spoke with his former English language development teacher, Lizette Becerra, at the detention center on Sunday. She said he described to her about how he overheard the agents boasting about the money they would receive for capturing him, according to the Times.

“So my question is, who are these people that took him?” Becerra said. “So yes, I am concerned that these were bounty hunters.”

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security told the times that it was "false" that the government uses private contractors or "bounty hunters" to make arrests, but the spokesperson did not directly address the allegation of the $1,500 payment.

The Homeland Security spokesperson said Guerrero-Cruz, who is from Chile, overstayed his visa by more than two years.

Trump administration officials, including the president himself, have repeatedly said they have been targeting the "worst of the worst" criminals in their enforcement operations. Guerrero-Cruz has not been publicly accused of any wrongdoing other than overstaying his visa.

Read more at the Los Angeles Times.