Four Stories of ICE’s Brutal and Aggressive Detention of Migrants
- La Voz Latina
- 3 days ago
- 5 min read
Written by: Michelle Calderon
When President Donald Trump took office in Jan. 2025, he promised he would strictly enforce immigration laws.
Through the “Big Beautiful Bill Act,” ICE’s budget grew by billions of dollars. In addition, leaders have pushed immigration agents to make a minimum of 3,000 arrests per day.
The Supreme Court has also given ICE the green light to racially profile individuals. Agents can stop anyone based on their appearance, meaning even legal residents and American citizens may be questioned about their immigration status.
As a result, many ICE arrests have turned violent. Below are four examples of aggressive ICE arrests that have taken place during Trump’s second term in office.
In Sept. 2025, Monica Moreta-Galarza, an Ecuadorian mother, was attending a court hearing in New York City for her husband who had been detained after seeking asylum. At his hearing, Monica was pushed and shoved to the ground by an ICE agent, reported New York Daily News.
Moments before she was forced to the ground, she was pleading for mercy from the ICE agents. She begged them not to take her husband away.
Her pleas were met with mockery by the ICE agents, as they dismissed her concerns and kept yelling “Adios” at her instead of hearing her out. Her brutal attack was witnessed by her children, who had attended the court hearing with her.
Videos of this encounter were shared all over social media, and many criticized ICE and the current administration.
According to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security has suspended the agent, as they investigate the incident. His actions were also condemned by DHS spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin, who said he doesn’t represent how ICE agents are called to act.
She said his behavior was, “unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.”
Moreta-Galarza said she hopes the Trump administration will learn from her mistreatment and start treating immigrants better.
“I am asking the president directly that he please have compassion for us,” she said.
On Nov. 8, Rafeal Veraza was pulling out of a Sam’s Club parking lot with his window rolled down, when he felt his eyes and face start to burn. He then realized he had been pepper sprayed and his 1-year-old daughter had also been affected.
Veraza said to MSN, that as he attempted to drive away, an ICE agent pointed a pepper-spray gun at his open vehicle. Afterwards, the agent fired at his car in close range.
Veraza said the incident was completely unprovoked. He said he didn’t protest, honk his horns to warn others, or try to interfere.
He said the incident greatly affected his young daughter, causing her to feel very sick.
“My daughter was trying to open her eyes. She was struggling to breathe,” he said.
According to The Mirror US, Veraza was also hospitalized because of the incident as the pepper spray triggered his asthma.
When The Mirror US questioned DHS regarding this incident, all they said was that ICE agents were being stalked and followed into the Sam's Club parking lot, and that an agent’s car was hit. Veraza says he didn’t intimidate nor cause any harm to ICE agents, as agents used chemicals indiscriminately.
On Oct. 23, 2025, Arnoldo Bazan, 16, was stopped, beaten and choked by ICE agents while his father, Arnulfo Bazan, drove him to school.
The 16-year-old told The Mirror US, that an unmarked vehicle pulled over their car, and when they stopped, they were met with officers dressed in plainclothes. The officers also didn’t identify themselves as law enforcement, Bazan said.
He said they both got scared and attempted to drive away, however the agents chased them and rammed into their cars several times. The agents then tackled and choked them in a restaurant supply store.
“I just ran to my dad, and (another agent) grabbed my shirt. I didn’t hit nobody. I didn’t do nothing to nobody. I was just standing there recording on my phone. And they took my phone… Then that’s when they tackled me. I said I was underage, the dude started choking me more,” Bazan said.
The Mirror US, said the father and son were then taken to a parking lot nearby, where they were verbally abused by the ICE agents. Being called racial slurs, such as “border hoppers,” they were later taken into custody, with Arnoldo being released a few days later, while Arnulfo remains in custody at the Montgomery Processing Center.
Despite raising three sons who have served in the U.S. Marine Corps and having no criminal record, Narciso Barranco was beaten and arrested by ICE agents while working his landscaping job at an IHOP restaurant in Santa Ana, California, MSN reported.
According to MSN, his eldest son, 25-year-old Alejandro Barranco, a veteran, said his father has been living in the United States since the 90s, and has never committed a crime. He also said his father raised him and his brothers to appreciate the United States.
“He always taught us to respect, to love our country, to always give back,” he said.
MSN said that Barranco’s detainment and arrest were part of a massive ICE raid that occurred in the Santa Ana area in June 2025. His detainment was caught on video, showing masked ICE agents pinning Barranco to the guard, as they repeatedly hit him in the head and neck.
They then forced him into an unmarked car while his hands were held behind his back. The video also shows that Barranco was sprayed with an unknown substance.
Alejandro Barranco expressed to MSN, that he feels let down, knowing the country that he and his brothers have served is harming their father.
“It’s hard to us. We feel hurt, we feel betrayed,” he said.
According to MSNow, Barranco was released from ICE custody in July 2025. He said his arrest and detainment taught him that while the United States is the land of opportunity, it’s also a dangerous place for immigrants.
“It’s just as this country can give us an opportunity, it can destroy many of us,” he said.
In a July 2025 KEPR Actions News Interview, Trump had told reporters that his focus is to deport the “worst of the worst.” However, these brutal arrests show that individuals, who are hard-working people with no criminal record still fall victim to massive raids and abuse at the hands of ICE agents.