ICE Detains Legal Migrant Who Has Been Working in US for 30 Years

The U.S. immigration enforcement agency has reportedly detained a legal migrant from outside his home in Columbus, Ohio—a man who has been working in the U.S. for 30 years—as it conducts raids under the mass deportation agenda of President Donald Trump.

Newsweek has reached out to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) via email for comment.

Why It Matters

Immigration and mass deportations were a key component of President Trump's successful 2024 campaign. Since the commencement of his second term, hundreds of undocumented immigrants have been arrested.

Under the current administration, ICE has gained expanded powers in immigration enforcement, including the right to conduct raids in places of worship, schools and hospitals.

Critics say immigration raids are sowing fear in vulnerable communities and that they violate protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. Issues including warrantless arrests, data collection without consent and detentions without probable cause could be deemed unconstitutional and may prompt potential legal battles over balancing immigration enforcement with individual rights.

Americans largely support the president's mass deportation plans. A poll carried out by The New York Times and Ipsos from January 2 to 10 found that 55 percent of voters strongly or somewhat supported such plans. Eighty-eight percent supported "deporting immigrants who are here illegally and have criminal records."

What To Know

On Tuesday, January 28, a man was detained and then released by ICE.

Newsweek spoke to the man's immigration lawyer, Inna Simakovsky, who confirmed that the man, who was originally from Mexico, is present in the United States legally. She explained that her client has a Derivative U Visa. In a phone call to Newsweek, she said: "The issue with our U visas is Congress has mandated only 10,000 U visas be issued every year. But this family filed their U visa in 2018."

She continued: "We're now in 2025 and they still don't have a U visa, but they have what's called deferred action, which is very similar to DACA deferred action where you can work legally, you can live legally, you are not supposed to be in deportation ... you have legal status."

"The group that picked him up were probably not aware of that," she added.

Simakovsky also told Newsweek: "All the legal challenges will take time and they will. And in the meantime, lots of people and lots of families will suffer."

She said that the man's daughter, who is a U.S. citizen, went to pick up her father and brought him back home. ICE had taken him to Geauga County, around 2 1/2 hours from Columbus.

The daughter of the detained man shared a post on Facebook in which she wrote: "ICE agents were WRONGLY informed about their immigration case. That shows how unfair the immigration system is. Before finding out well the case of the people they make it easy to go for them and find out what to do with them since they are detained.

"After being in this country for 30 years, working, paying taxes, following the laws of this country. Unexpectedly, ICE agents arrived to 'speak' with him. And that nothing was going to happen. If he didn't cooperate with them they would use it against him. They said they had a warrant for their arrest and never wanted to show us. As much as we demanded to see the order, they told us that it's better to talk to an ICE agent in person. They handcuffed him and took him away."

ICE daily arrests have increased since Trump took office and the agency has started to post daily arrest tallies on the social media site X. A recent post said it had made 969 arrests on January 28.

What People Are Saying

Simakovsky told Newsweek: "Everybody agrees that people with violent criminal records need to be deported ... But deporting moms and dads and kids, that isn't priority."

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a White House press briefing: "To foreign nationals who are thinking about trying to illegally enter the United States—think again. Under this president, you will be detained and you will be deported. Every day Americans are safer because of the violent criminals that President Trump's administration is removing from our communities."

What Happens Next

The Trump administration is set to continue implementing its hard-line immigration agenda, which means arrests are likely to continue.

The ICE raids will likely lead to legal challenges and increased organizing from advocacy groups.

Update 01/30/25, 12:34 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Simakovsky.

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