Families in Southwest Houston say an early-morning ICE operation on Halloween turned their neighborhood into a scene of fear and confusion, leaving children traumatized and community advocates demanding answers.
At a press conference Friday, FIEL Houston described what it called the “Nightmare on Club Creek.” Executive Director Cesar Espinosa said agents wearing masks and unmarked vests entered the Club Creek area around 5:30 a.m. on October 31. Families reported people being pulled from their homes and vehicles, including residents who are U.S. citizens.
“We don’t know who these agents are,” Espinosa said. “If somebody wearing a hooded mask, in the dark, came at you, what would you do?”
FIEL says more than 50 families were impacted, with several alleging that officers used force and detained people who had no criminal background.
“He was just going to work”
The first family to speak was that of Nico, a father who was reportedly leaving home for work at 5:24 a.m. Surveillance footage shown at the press conference captured him walking toward his truck with a lunch bag. Two minutes later, at 5:26, another camera showed agents detaining him on the sidewalk.
“He wasn’t bothering anyone. He wasn’t committing any crimes. He was simply walking to work,” said his daughter. “They saw the color of his skin and decided he was a target.”
His family says he has no criminal record or deportation orders and calls his detention unlawful.
The wife of Victor Manuel Daniel says her husband was arrested around 6 a.m. while sitting in his truck waiting for a co-worker. Witnesses say multiple unmarked vehicles surrounded his truck before agents broke the window and detained him.
“He’s not a criminal. He has no record,” said his daughter. “He’s been here more than 20 years. He was just going to work.”
Victor’s wife, María Guadalupe Contreras, says her five children are struggling without him. One daughter is a cancer survivor, another is nonverbal and communicates through sign language. “Every day she waits by the door for her father,” Contreras said through tears.
FIEL says Victor and others detained that morning were transferred to a federal detention facility in Tyler, Texas—three hours away from Houston—making it harder for families and attorneys to reach them.
FIEL also shared a video of a damaged van that they say was struck by an ICE vehicle during the same operation. The driver, an 82-year-old man, was transporting adults with disabilities to a day center.
Attorney Bianca Santorini, who recorded the video, said the federal agent involved in the crash was the same person she saw earlier that morning at the Club Creek enforcement site.
“He hit a car full of people with disabilities. Someone could have died,” Santorini said. She added that an HPD report was filed, but it has not yet been released.
ICE denies the allegations
In a statement to KPRC 2 News Reporter Ricky Muñoz, an ICE spokesperson rejected FIEL’s claims, calling them “false” and saying this is the third time in three months the group has spread misinformation about immigration enforcement.
“No U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE in Houston,” the statement said. “On Oct. 31, ICE conducted targeted, intelligence-based enforcement operations in Southwest Houston. During the operations, they attempted to pull over a van with a suspicious registration. The van refused to comply and eventually wrecked into and disabled an ICE vehicle.”
ICE says a police report was filed with HPD and that the agency’s actions were lawful. It also said false claims from groups like FIEL have led to a rise in assaults on its officers.
Espinosa disputes ICE’s version, saying the operation endangered residents and left families afraid to leave their homes. “We have proof, and we’re going to make it public,” he said.
FIEL is calling on Mayor John Whitmire and city leaders to condemn the raids, which they say were conducted “in the cover of night” and have sown panic in immigrant neighborhoods.
Copyright 2025 by KPRC Click2Houston – All rights reserved.