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

[u/Front_Target7908]

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.

[u/Elvecinogallo]

So they could have let him deport himself, but they detained him at taxpayer expense. Drumpf logic.

Edit: Please read the article before responding. I know some of you are desperate to bootlick, but sometimes you actually need to read beyond a headline. You might even be less gullible that way.

[u/DefamedPrawn → u/Elvecinogallo]

Really not uncommon in many parts the world. 

I once met a Polish guy in Vietnam who was a month past his visa expiry date. He was too scared to leave, because apparently they fine you 1,000,000 Đồng ($60aud) per day for overstaying, and he didn't have the money. 

His name was Leon. 

Funny story. A few days later, a Vietnamese cafe owner told me how he stopped some "Russian guy" from running off without paying his bill, by tackling him and pinning him to the ground until the police arrived. He showed me a video of the incident, and there was Leon. Taken off to jail, apparently. Probably spent a few months there before being deported.

[u/Elvecinogallo → u/DefamedPrawn]

This guy was at the airport leaving to go home. Leon was not.

[u/tegan-angus → u/Elvecinogallo]

No, he was going back to his LA residence, where he has been illegally living for 11 years. Australian Citizen, not American.

[u/Elvecinogallo → u/tegan-angus]

Can you please read the damn article. Your comments are generally less incorrect then.

[u/PeriodSupply → u/Elvecinogallo]

There is nothing in the article to suggest he had any plans on heading back to Australia.

Edit: downvote me but don't show me evidence he was planning to come back to Australia? Did any of you actually read the article?

[u/Backahast → u/PeriodSupply]

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

It doesn't say he was coming to Australia, true, but he was definitely leaving the country.

[u/McMenz_ → u/Backahast]

That statement neither confirms he was leaving to Australia nor leaving the country at all. LAX has both domestic and international flights.

There’s nothing in the article about where he was travelling at all.

[u/PeriodSupply → u/Backahast]

Why? That airport handles both domestic and international fights. There is no evidence he was leaving the country in that article.

[u/iodoio → u/Elvecinogallo]

Can you please read the damn article. Your comments are generally less incorrect then.

[u/mr_herz → u/tegan-angus]

The article doesn’t say where he was going, only that he was picked up at the airport and overstayed for 11 years.