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.<\/p>\n
At a press conference Friday, FIEL Houston described what it called the \u201cNightmare on Club Creek.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know who these agents are,\u201d Espinosa said. \u201cIf somebody wearing a hooded mask, in the dark, came at you, what would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
FIEL says more than 50 families were impacted, with several alleging that officers used force and detained people who had no criminal background.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was just going to work\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t bothering anyone. He wasn\u2019t committing any crimes. He was simply walking to work,\u201d said his daughter. \u201cThey saw the color of his skin and decided he was a target.\u201d<\/p>\n
His family says he has no criminal record or deportation orders and calls his detention unlawful.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not a criminal. He has no record,\u201d said his daughter. \u201cHe\u2019s been here more than 20 years. He was just going to work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victor\u2019s wife, Mar\u00eda Guadalupe Contreras, says her five children are struggling without him. One daughter is a cancer survivor, another is nonverbal and communicates through sign language. \u201cEvery day she waits by the door for her father,\u201d Contreras said through tears.<\/p>\n
FIEL says Victor and others detained that morning were transferred to a federal detention facility in Tyler, Texas\u2014three hours away from Houston\u2014making it harder for families and attorneys to reach them.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe hit a car full of people with disabilities. Someone could have died,\u201d Santorini said. She added that an HPD report was filed, but it has not yet been released.<\/p>\n
ICE denies the allegations<\/p>\n
In a statement to KPRC 2 News Reporter Ricky Mu\u00f1oz, an ICE spokesperson rejected FIEL\u2019s claims, calling them \u201cfalse\u201d and saying this is the third time in three months the group has spread misinformation about immigration enforcement.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE in Houston,\u201d the statement said. \u201cOn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
ICE says a police report was filed with HPD and that the agency\u2019s actions were lawful. It also said false claims from groups like FIEL have led to a rise in assaults on its officers.<\/p>\n
Espinosa disputes ICE\u2019s version, saying the operation endangered residents and left families afraid to leave their homes. \u201cWe have proof, and we\u2019re going to make it public,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
FIEL is calling on Mayor John Whitmire and city leaders to condemn the raids, which they say were conducted \u201cin the cover of night\u201d and have sown panic in immigrant neighborhoods.<\/p>\n
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