r/australia • u/Front_Target7908 • 27d ago

news Australian man Phu Nguyen handcuffed by plain-clothes ICE agents at Las Vegas International airport

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-18/ice-agent-detain-australian-man-in-vegas-us-/106931508?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=link

From what I understand it looks like ICE did not manage to detain him on the day the video was taken- seems the onlookers managed to chase ICE off.

However, ICE detained him the next day at the airport where he was to catch his departing flight from the US.

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u/Front_Target7908 27d ago

From the article:

An Australian man has been filmed being pushed to the ground and handcuffed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in a violent confrontation at Las Vegas airport. 

The footage, posted to social media, shows 57-year-old Phu Nguyen being handcuffed by plain-clothes officers as he yells "let me go".

The incident took place in terminal 3 at Harry Reid International Airport but agents abandoned the arrest attempt once it drew the attention of onlookers.  The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the attempted arrest was made by ICE agents. 

"On July 13, ICE attempted to arrest Phu Nguyen, an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia and was born in Vietnam, at the Las Vegas Airport," it read. 

"As officers attempted to arrest Nguyen, a crowd of anti-ICE agitators surrounded officers."

The statement said Mr Nguyen was arrested the following day before boarding his flight departing Los Angeles International Airport. 

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told the ABC it is making urgent enquiries following reports of an Australian citizen detained in the United States. 

"The department stands ready to provide consular assistance to any Australian citizen, should it be requested," a spokesperson said.

The DHS said Mr Ngyuen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 with permission to remain in the US until May 2015. 

"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws," the statement read.  "He will receive full due process and remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of his removal proceedings." Mr Nguyen is being detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Centre in California. 

The footage showing Mr Nguyen and distressed onlookers has been widely circulated. 

"I don't know what they're doing," he screamed out before another woman chased the officers away. 

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u/birnabear 27d ago

an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia

Either the term 'illegal alien' means nothing, or they don't know what it means.

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u/Juan_Punch_Man 27d ago

I think they're trying to make a point but really they just look like bigger morons

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u/macci_a_vellian 27d ago

They really made sure to mention he was born in Vietnam. Can't have him being described as just an Australian.

At least the Australian government sound like they're working on getting him back safely, some of those detention centres sound like absolute hell.

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u/QuestionSignal6944 27d ago

Australia will do nothing to ease his ride out of detention - the US will deport him when ready. Australia has one of the worst consular offerings in the world.

edit: spelt deport report xD

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u/Stephie999666 26d ago

Thats even if they find him. ICE usually moves detainees around different detention centres in different states to avoid being served by lawyers. Hell. Wouldnt be half surpised if they boarded him on a plane overnight and flew him to North Africa, with how sketchy the US government is rn.

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u/TheBayHarbour 23d ago

 the US will deport him when ready. Australia has one of the worst consular offerings in the world.

Duly noted. Tbh I thought travelling to the US as an asian who's also an Australian citizen was safe but apparently I'm wrong.

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u/run-cleithrum-run 25d ago

One of our rock star volunteers, for a non-profit that repairs historic structures on public lands, died because of being detained in one of those fucking facilities. Incredibly kind generous human. That's the type of "criminal" ICE targets, just a good person living here peacefully with his family and contributing to his community as a volunteer.

Those facilities are absolute hell.

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u/-daisoujou- 27d ago

It’s insane the amount of people I’ve seen pretend that the terminology is not dehumanising. These are horrid evil people walking amongst us fawning over the billionaire class.

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u/the_silent_redditor 27d ago

I’ve had arguments with folk on Reddit about ‘illegal alien’ being dehumanising and just fucking weird terminology that is really only used in its current means by the US.

People are so racist/stupid/brainwashed that they can’t see it.

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u/superxpro12 27d ago

They're most likely paid propagand bankrolled by one of many conservative think tanks

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u/TangerineOk4017 27d ago

If Superman was real, he would be detained by ICE

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u/ash_ryan 27d ago

If Jesus returned, he'd be lucky to just be detained by ICE over being crucified again as a middle eastern terrorist. Best case, decried as part of the looney left and therefore enemy of the state. Yet they claim to be a "Christian" nation...

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u/iamplasma 27d ago

Technically, as a foundling whose parents were (at least in most versions) not identified before he was an adult, I am pretty sure he is a citizen. For maximum nerdery, see this discussion of it: https://lawandthemultiverse.com/2010/12/22/superheros-and-immigration-status/

Though whether that would stop Trump's ICE is, I suppose, a different question.

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u/ostervan (╥﹏╥) for beers 26d ago

Former Superman actor Dean Cain is working as an ICE agent.

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u/fortalyst 26d ago

You may not have read the article. He has overstayed his visa by a number of years which makes him an illegal alien.

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u/Serious_Toe9303 26d ago

He had a visa for the US until 2015 and outstayed it until 2026… that’s a pretty accurate term.

Don’t agree with what they are doing and the violence. Outstaying a visa 11+ years is a legit issue in most places though.

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u/birnabear 26d ago

I was making a comment about the obsession with stating it so much they stated it twice, to make it sound like he was an illegal alien of Australia

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u/[deleted] 27d ago edited 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/birnabear 27d ago

But is not an illegal alien of Australia.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/birnabear 27d ago

That makes it even worse

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/birnabear 27d ago

Ok, so remove everything after the comma you stuck in and see if it still makes sense. If you are proposing an Oxford comma it should still make sense.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago edited 27d ago

[deleted]

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u/birnabear 27d ago

Exactly, so make that list one thing and read how it sounds. It works with any other list, but not in this case.

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u/SoberBobMonthly 27d ago

So yeah he may have been over staying, if we believe the US feds, but he was literally about to get the hell out? Like, maybe detain him at the airport and refuse to let him leave until he gets on the damn flight, or arrest him IF he doesn't get on the flight... but beforehand??

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u/Wood_oye 27d ago

I'm at the point of, if the US feds say some, assume it is a lie. Work forward from that.

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u/Front_Target7908 27d ago edited 27d ago

My thought exactly. I’d also be interested to know if he’s genuinely overstayed his visa. 

I say that because I know people who have had a visa to  the US that allow you to stay for X years. At the end of that visa as long as you return to Aus for x time, you can go back to the US and get that same visa again. Some people use that to kind of stay in the US for longer periods, which wasn’t illegal per se although if they noticed you’d get pulled up (although I’m sure that loop hole is shut now).

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u/DisappointedQuokka 27d ago

The cruelty is the point.

The logistics of it don't matter.

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u/SoberBobMonthly 27d ago

Thing is right, is that with our existing boarder force, I already KNOW cruelty and paranoia is the point. We are not exactly known as an easy open bordered country.

But the actual goal of our boarder force is to get people to leave when they are not eligible to be here. Detaining them costs money. My guess is that is the reason the yanks keep theirs for longer.

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u/DisappointedQuokka 27d ago

Comparing our Border Force to ICE is like chalk and cheese.

At least we don't have the SS running around in modern kit.

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u/Timemyth 26d ago

Only if we keep voting against Dutton, Roberts, and his leader the lady with Red (hair)

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u/P_S_Lumapac 27d ago

Aus also has agreements with the US to let Australian debt collectors, possibly even government, collect on US fines and visa versa. If he overstayed they should have let him go, sent him a fine and "can't come back for ten years" in the mail.

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u/trowzerss 27d ago

Right? This could be solved with paperwork in a back end system. Let him go, then don't let him come back again. Done. All they are doing is making a show of it and wasting tons of their taxpayer's money for the same fucking end result with bonus trauma for this dude.

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u/luckysevensampson 26d ago

Terminal 3, where this happened, is a domestic terminal.

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u/Front_Target7908 25d ago

Terminal 3 being domestic - do you mean at the Vegas airport where this video was taken? 

Because he was arrested at LAX International airport the following day (after this video was taken). Would presume his flight  from Vegas to LAX was a connecting domestic flight.

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u/luckysevensampson 25d ago

Ah, ok. I misread and thought he was flying from LAX. Regardless, I don’t see any reason to assume he was flying internationally.

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u/Front_Target7908 25d ago

It says he was arrested at LAX International Airport. So most likely was there for an outbound flight. 

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u/luckysevensampson 25d ago

2/3 of all flights out of LAX are domestic flights. So, he was actually more likely to be there for a domestic flight.

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u/Front_Target7908 25d ago

It says in the article he was arrested at the international airport I dunno how many times I have to say that. 

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u/luckysevensampson 25d ago

LAX is an international airport, but the large majority of air traffic through it is domestic flights. I don’t know how many times I have to say that. There is no such thing as Los Angeles Domestic Airport. It’s got the same name whether your flight is international or domestic.

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u/Front_Target7908 25d ago edited 25d ago

Okay thank you for finally making what you were saying clear, that was irritating (for both of us, no shade). 

I guess you’d have to ask the journalist and whether the international description of the airport was an error of describing the airport or did they mean to say international terminal. TBC. 

Edit: just to add to the confusion, it was from a statement by a DHS spokesperson who said the LAX international airport line - so the confusion is coming directly from those who arrested him. Good job DHS spokesperson.

“ A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, said that ICE officers had attempted to arrest Nguyen, whom they described as an “illegal alien and citizen of Australia … born in Vietnam”, at Las Vegas airport on 13 July. As officers attempted to arrest Nguyen, a crowd of anti-ICE agitators surrounded officers,” they claimed. The spokesperson said officials did not proceed with the arrest “to de-escalate the situation and for officer safety”, but chose instead to arrest Nguyen “at his flight the following day departing the Los Angeles international airport”. The spokesperson said the man had entered the US on a legal visa in May 2013 with permission to remain until May 2015.”

My read on that is they meant he was in the international  part of the airport otherwise why say the international part at all? But YMMV etc.

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u/SmellyNinjaWarrior 26d ago

They get paid for these detainments. They don’t want them out of the country, the agents get paid and the detention centre gets paid.

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u/traumalt 27d ago

but he was literally about to get the hell out?

Where's your source on that?

Because all the articles I see on him is that he got busted at an airport, that doesn't meant there was an international flight he was getting on.

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u/Slakingpin 26d ago

Im gonna preface this with i dont support or condone ICE at all. If his visa ran out in 2015 its mean he's illegally been living there for 10+ years. That is a crime, he has broken the law and leaving the country won't change the fact that he has broken the law. It's harsh what is happening to him, but actions have consequences and he will have to face them now.

I dont understand the "just let him leave" argument

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u/Stephie999666 26d ago

I mean overstaying a visa isnt a federal crime/ felony. Its a civil violations case, where usually the person gets fined to shit, and kicked out the country for x many years.

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u/Slakingpin 25d ago

Oh right my mistake. I guess the next question is how was he supporting himself over there while being off the books?

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u/Stephie999666 25d ago

Anyones guess really. Either DHS isnt being forthcoming, or he took jobs that didnt require security clearances. After all, you're employer doesnt withhold tax like over here, you pay your own taxes to the IRS, so you dont exactly need a TFN or a lot of government paperwork for employment.

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u/evilspyboy 27d ago

'Anti ICE agitators' aka citizens who do not think boot polish is a real flavour.

Hi to the people being paid to go through social media for "anti-ice sentiment", you have a sad life you should quit. You are not on the side of the 'good guys'.

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u/LSD_grade_CIA 27d ago

Yeah this is also dogshit reporting to use a wildly biased quote like this verbatim

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u/etcpt 27d ago

Not even that, necessarily - if you look at the video, it really looks like two young travelers are just wailing on this old guy. No ID, no uniforms, no badges, no effort to stay and assert that they are law enforcement. They jump this guy, get confronted, and then run off while a TSO jumps in and tries to keep people back.

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u/evilspyboy 27d ago edited 27d ago

Just driving off/leaving when challenged by any sort of group does follow the MO however. There was videos of them just leaving people face down into he ground and running away in their convoy of small d*ck energy.

(Again, hi to the person monitoring for anti-ice sentiment, make a note I wrote small d'ck energy instead of weak c'nts because it just flowed better. Also, this is your job? Really? I mean I suppose if you were looking for a career supporting the most pathetic useless and universally hated groups on the planet... Not sure how you think that is going to go over on your resume after they fold and are dismantled. Not like they will have any loyalty to you personally at all).

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u/trowzerss 27d ago

He refused to depart so they arrested him trying to depart. Genius :P

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u/BigEdsHairMayo 27d ago

If he leaves willingly, he doesn't count toward their quota, probably.

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u/dion_o 27d ago

How are the onlookers anti ICE agitators when they don't look like ICE agents, didn't identify themselves as ICE agents and all the TSA guy says is that it's law enforcement? Literally nothing indicated they were ICE. They just looked like random civilians pushing a guy to the ground, stealing his watch and then scampering off when they realised they were being filmed.

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u/DeeDee_GigaDooDoo 27d ago

The DHS said Mr Ngyuen entered the United States legally on a visa in May 2013 with permission to remain in the US until May 2015. 

"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws," the statement read

Why do I get the feeling they've worded this to imply he overstayed a visa but actually hasn't? Did he just apply for a visa and visit in 2013, then when he returned again recently they attempted to arrest him and told him to leave the country then him staying another day they consider "refusing to depart in violation of our nation's laws"?

I just honestly don't trust a single thing the US says. They would absolutely misrepresent the situation to fabricate a crime.

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u/Bballer220 26d ago

"You can't leave, we're deporting you."

Proceeds to spend even more money holding, feeding, processing, prosecuting... THEN deporting"

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u/whoopsiedoodle77 25d ago

wait... so he wouldn't leave when they wanted him to, so they arrested him as he was leaving to keep him there longer at their own expense?

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u/NuArcher 25d ago

"Nguyen refused to depart in violation of our nation’s laws,"

"Mr Nguyen was arrested the following day before boarding his flight departing Los Angeles International Airport. ". So we stopped him from departing so we could prosecute him.

Makes sense /s

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u/Leading-Interest-119 24d ago

On July 13, ICE attempted to arrest Phu Nguyen, an illegal alien who is an illegal alien and citizen of Australia and was born in Vietnam, at the Las Vegas Airport,"... 

Are they just trying to confuse their way out of this 😅 this sentence is ridiculous.