A week ago, the lives of 29-year-old Jose Alvaro and his wife Ashley took an unexpected turn. They were on their way to purchase baby formula in Lubbock, accompanied by their three children, when a police officer pulled them over. The reason for the stop was apparently an issue with the license plate on their vehicle. Little did they know that this routine traffic stop would have such a profound impact on their family.
Ashley recalls that the officer was “very friendly and kind” when he approached them. She explained that her husband, who doesn’t speak English fluently and doesn’t possess a driver’s license, is Jose Alvaro, an undocumented immigrant from Central America. Despite this, Jose Alvaro provided the officer with his proof of insurance and his passport.
The officer immediately contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Within ten minutes, several federal immigration authorities arrived in multiple vehicles, parking them behind the patrol car, as confirmed by Ashley and her lawyer. The agents swiftly surrounded the family’s vehicle and transported Jose Alvaro to a detention center for processing.
Ashley recalled that inside the vehicle, her 4-year-old son Antonio started crying and questioned, “What are they doing?”
Jose Alvaro had been navigating the time-consuming, expensive, and difficult process of applying for a green card. He is currently facing deportation proceedings, and his family’s future is uncertain. ICE did not return a request for comment.
“I am terrified,” said Ashley, 22, an American citizen who asked that her and her relatives’ last names not be published because she is concerned that immigration authorities will retaliate against her husband.
As President Donald Trump launches his promised crackdown on illegal immigration, the event highlighted immigrant rights groups’ concerns that everyday interactions with local law enforcement authorities may more frequently result in deportation for unauthorized immigrants with no criminal history.
Trump’s immigration adviser, Tom Homan, has stated that the government will prioritize immigrants with criminal backgrounds. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated that undocumented individuals who have committed “heinous acts” should be prioritized by ICE, but that anybody who has entered the country unlawfully has committed a crime and will be deported under the Trump administration.
Leavitt explained, “Two things can be true simultaneously.” “Illegal criminal drug dealers, the rapists, the murderers, the individuals who have committed heinous acts on the interior of our country and who have terrorized law-abiding American citizens—absolutely, those should be the priority of ICE, but that doesn’t mean that the other illegal criminals who enter our nation’s borders are off the table.”
According to Muzaffar Chishti, head of the Migration Policy Institute office at New York University School of Law, the case exemplifies the Biden and Trump administrations’ divergent approaches to immigration enforcement. During the Biden administration, immigration authorities focused on immigrants who committed severe crimes and new arrivals at the southwest border, whereas Trump’s latest actions indicate that “everyone is game,” according to Chishti.
“Enforcement is now random; everyone is subject to enforcement action,” Chishti told the crowd. “You can imagine what fear it instills just from one incident.”
Ashley and the family’s lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, stated that Jose Alvaro had no criminal past; internet court records show no criminal history for him.
In his first week in office, Trump assigned immigration agencies a daily arrest quota and authorized federal prosecutors to pursue local authorities who oppose the administration’s immigration policy. However, this does not require police to notify federal officials when they encounter an unauthorized person.
State politicians may strive to change this. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Wednesday that compelling local governments to assist federal deportation efforts was one of his legislative objectives for the current session.
“There are lots of local police around the state of Texas and around the country who are anxious and excited to work with ICE,” said Denise Gilman, a law professor who directs the Immigration Clinic at the University of Texas at Austin and represented people in similar situations during Trump’s first term. “The consequences are very grave for somebody who has been living and working in the United States.”
It is unclear how often Texas police contact ICE when they stop an unauthorized person. Some large Texas police departments had procedures that limited when officers inquired about a person’s legal status or accepted ICE requests to hold a person for deportation—an effort to foster confidence among immigrant communities so they would not be afraid to call police to report crimes.
The prospective legislation Patrick revealed in his priority list on Wednesday may go beyond a 2017 state statute that prohibits municipal officials from asking about a person’s legal status. Some communities continue to be more welcoming to undocumented persons than others: Austin police officers must inform detainees that they are not required to answer questions about their immigration status. Mayor John Whitmire of Houston stated this week that Houston police have not assisted federal officials in deporting anybody.
Lubbock Police Department spokesperson Lt. Brady Cross acknowledged that the officer called ICE during the traffic stop, saying department policy allows police to notify federal authorities about crimes that fall under their jurisdiction.
Lubbock’s police “may not detain or arrest only because they suspect someone may be an illegal alien, and they may not detain them longer than any other suspect,” according to Cross. “While the department’s primary function is to enforce the laws of the state of Texas and the ordinances of the city of Lubbock, at times there will be a crossover with federal law; the LPD will not stand in the way of federal partners.”
Hurricane romance
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Ashley and Jose Alvaro crossed paths in the aftermath of a natural disaster. According to Ashley, it was in 2018 when Hurricane Michael ravaged the Florida panhandle, tearing the roof off her family’s home.
Jose Alvaro, one of the roofers tasked with repairing it, initiated their first interaction by raising three fingers and asking, “agua?” Ashley promptly responded by bringing him three bottles of water, which earned her a warm smile from him.
Antonio came into the picture after the two started talking and eventually dating.
“It was an indescribable joy to witness the moment when he laid eyes on his son for the first time,” Ashley said, reflecting on the immense happiness that radiated from Jose Alvaro’s face, accompanied by a single tear rolling down his cheek.
After that, they welcomed two more children into their family: Ariceli, who is now 1 year old, and Jose, who is only 6 months old. Remarkably, all three of their children were born in the United States. The family made the decision to move to Lubbock, where Jose Alvaro was able to secure a stable job. In regards to how Jose Alvaro entered the country, Lincoln-Goldfinch chose not to disclose any details, as it could potentially impact his ongoing deportation case.
The family found a home in one of Texas’ largest cities, where around one-third of the population is Latino, according to Census estimates.
Waiting in the car for hours
Last week, when the family was out running errands in Lubbock, Jose Alvaro missed a turn, according to Ashley. As he turned around, they noticed a police officer waiting at a red light. Surprisingly, the officer pulled them over in less than 10 seconds.
According to Kasie Davis, a spokesperson for the Lubbock police, a person’s criminal history does not determine whether they are arrested or not, or whether federal authorities are notified.
Davis redirected additional inquiries to ICE.
After the immigration agent took Jose Alvaro into custody, Ashley was informed that she was free to leave. However, she faced a dilemma as she didn’t possess a driver’s license and couldn’t operate a vehicle. To make matters worse, she only had two diapers and lacked any baby formula for her child. Meanwhile, as the agents swiftly escorted Jose Alvaro away, Antonio anxiously inquired once more about the fate of his father.
She attempted to simplify the concepts to him, covering topics like passports and immigration agents. However, it was challenging to explain these complex ideas to a four-year-old.
She felt a sense of fear as the realization sank in: they were going to deport him.
After the agents had taken Jose Alvaro to a detention center, Ashley remained in the car with the children for approximately three and a half hours. During this time, she experienced harassment from individuals within the neighborhood who questioned why she had been sitting in a parked car for such a prolonged period.
She said the agents had instructed her to wait in the same spot if she wanted her husband to be returned there. And that’s exactly what she did.
“In my head, I’m just trying to cooperate with them,” Ashley said. “Trying to think of the easiest way for them to get him back to me. So I’m agreeing with everything that they’re saying.”
“Inefficient and foolish”
Goldfinch, the lawyer, had already been representing the family as they went through the process of obtaining permanent residency, also known as a green card, for Jose Alvaro, which could take several years, she mentioned.
“It takes a very long time,” Goldfinch said, lamenting that he is now another number in an overwhelmed court system on top of being in line for a green card. “It’s a really inefficient and foolish way for the government to be handling issues.”
After waiting in the car with her children for over three hours, the agents finally brought Jose Alvaro back and informed him that he would have two hearings and a court date scheduled for his removal proceedings, with the next one taking place in Dallas.
Ashley reflects on Antonio and Ariceli, her children who struggle to fall asleep unless they are beside their father. Due to the fear of ICE appearing at their doorstep, the family refrains from answering when someone knocks. Ashley mentions that they anxiously peer through the window every time they hear a noise.
Ashley is currently searching for plane tickets to Dallas so that she can attend her husband’s first court hearing in March. However, she is unsure about the number of return flights she should book.
“I’m terrified,” Ashley confessed, her voice trembling over the phone.