“Are you Haitian?” “Then things got worse.”

In a scene that feels ripped from a procedural drama, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Scott Thomas Deiseroth42, was pulled over on a highway in the Florida Keys in August 2025 after deputies said he was driving erratically on the Seven Mile Bridge with his two young sons in the truck — and body camera footage reveals a confrontation that went from a simple DUI stop to a forced arrest and viral controversy.

Deputies from Monroe County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched around 3:24 p.m. on Aug. 13 after multiple calls reported a pickup truck weaving between lanes, crossing into oncoming traffic and nearly causing a collision on US Highway 1 near Bahia Honda.

When deputies caught up with the truck near Mile Marker 36.5, they immediately noticed a strong odor of alcohol and two children, ages 7 and 9, in the back seat.

“Are you Haitian?”: Agent asks deputy’s nationality during stop

The meeting was already tense from the first words caught on bodycam. Deiseroth identified himself as an ICE agent based in Miami, insisting he was trying to get home with his boys and that his federal status matters in how deputies should treat him. When asked for his Department of Homeland Security credentials, he did not have them to hand.

Things escalated when deputies asked him to perform standardized field sobriety exercises. In the footage, Deiseroth repeatedly provokes the shutdown by asking “Are you Haitian?” about one of the lawmakers — a moment that has since become the focal point of national attention on race, privilege and bias.

Deputies insist that nationality has nothing to do with the deployment halt, but Deiseroth presses the question several times, seeming to suggest that the deputy’s background should influence how the situation is handled.

Fight field sobriety tests and a plea for custody

The video shows Deiseroth struggling with basic coordination tasks such as walking in a straight line and reciting numbers. At one point, he fumbles and stumbles, prompting deputies to question how much he’s been drinking.

he claims “about four drinks” but he cannot clearly describe what he drank, and his speech and motor skills seem impaired.

When deputies move to arrest him for DUI and child endangerment — charges supported by the presence of his children in the vehicle — Deiseroth resists, sometimes refusing to step toward the patrol car and yelling at them.

He expresses fear of losing custody of his children, saying he is in the middle of a divorce, and continues to criticize the officers even while handcuffed.

After the arrest, his children were handed over to their mother again Florida Department of Children and Families has been reported, as required in cases involving potential child endangerment. Deiseroth was booked into the Monroe County Jail on misdemeanor charges of driving under the influence and resisting without violence.

Liability, probation and an early exit offer

The case drew national headlines not just for the surreal body camera footage, but also for the questions it raised about responsibility and privilege when a federal law enforcement officer becomes a suspect.

An ICE spokesman said all employees are held to the agency’s highest standards and that the matter will be properly addressed after the investigation. At the time the footage was released, Deiseroth remained on administrative leave pending the outcome of that review.

In late 2025, Deiseroth pleaded no contest to the DUI charge. On October 30, he was sentenced to one year of probation and had his driver’s license revoked for the same period.

Prosecutors declined to pursue child neglect and declined to arrest charges. This decision drew sharp criticism from legal observers and social commentators. But that’s not all.

By early 2026, Deiseroth’s defense team had filed a motion asking the judge to end his probation early, noting that he had complied with all conditions and voluntarily participated in substance abuse treatment through Veterans Affairs programs. A decision on that motion had not been issued by mid-January.

In the meantime, the body-cam clip continues to circulate widely, igniting debate about how law enforcement should respond and becoming another chapter in larger discussions about ICE’s behavior, racial profiling and the public’s trust in police agencies.

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Sources: WPEC, NBC 6 South Florida, Florida Keys Weekly Newspapers

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