OKLAHOMA CITY – An OKC woman and her three daughters were hoping for a new beginning, but that dream quickly soured when they were greeted by federal ICE agents early last Thursday morning. The family settled in a neighborhood in northwest Oklahoma City after recently relocating from Maryland.
The woman, identified as Marisa, said she was growing accustomed to her new life, but a rude awakening to federal immigration agents has complicated the matter. Over a dozen U.S. Marshals, immigration officers, and FBI agents entered the family’s home with guns drawn.
Before they were even able to put on clothes, agents ordered the family to step outside in the rain. “They wanted me to change in front of them,” Marisa told KFOR’s Spencer Humphrey.
When agents presented Marisa with a search warrant, she said the names did not match anyone currently in the home. However, she recognized the names from mail previously delivered to her home, likely addressed to former residents.
Marisa said officers disregarded her pleas of innocence, that she and her daughters are citizens. During the incident, agents seized their belongings, including cellphones, laptops and cash found in the house. The woman told reporters that agents left no contact information or timeline for returning their items
Growing occurrence of ICE raids, deportations
During Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office, he has worked to upend the nation’s immigration policies. Before even taking office, Trump declared immigration one of his top priorities. A promise outlined in his 2024 campaign spoke of plans to commit the largest deportation operation in American history.
These changes have impacted non-citizens and citizens alike. On April 25, a four-year-old boy with cancer and his sibling were deported alongside his mother. In New Jersey, ICE detained a military veteran at his workplace—an action his coworker believes was driven by racial profiling, as the man is Puerto Rican. U.S. officials wrongly deported a Maryland man to an El Salvador prison, now the country refuses to allow his return.
Now, federal judges are blocking some immigration protocols in a manner witnessed during the first Trump administration’s Muslim ban.
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Seven days into his first term, Trump signed an executive order banning entry to citizens from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Opponents challenged the ban throughout 2017, but the Supreme Court ultimately sided with the administration.
As cases like Marisa’s gain national attention, federal judges are weighing the constitutionality of various state-level immigration policies. Courts have blocked new laws in states such as Florida and Idaho. However, despite these rulings, federal immigration policies continue to affect migrant communities.
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