A San Luis resident told the City Council on Aug. 21 that he was detained by San Luis police in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Aug. 21, 2023, and said the detention involved constitutional violations that the city should address.

Alfonso Lopez Aguirre, during the meeting’s call to the public, said an officer issued a teletype broadcast implying probable cause before he was interviewed and said he was held in a Border Patrol cell for more than an hour and questioned without being read his Miranda rights. He said internal affairs reports “confirmed the Miranda violation.”

Why it matters: The speaker said the incident cost him a career opportunity and exposed the city to legal and financial risk. He urged the council to exercise oversight, asking the city attorney and police chief to explain “why is it worth risking millions of taxpayer dollars defending this case rather than resolving it.”

Lopez Aguirre described the issue as a training and policy failure that “falls squarely under your oversight responsibility,” and asked the council to require transparency and corrective action. He said he possesses video he said shows a San Luis officer who “cannot state basic constitutional rights.”

Council response: The allegation was raised during the call to the public; the council did not take action on the item during the meeting, and no formal response or directive to staff is recorded in the transcript.

Ending: Because the remarks were part of the public comment period, council members may later ask staff to review or place an item on a future agenda, per the council’s call-to-public rules; the transcript shows Lopez Aguirre’s request but records no immediate council motion or investigation directive.