Woman Reveals How ICE Raid Took Her Husband—’Political War’

A California mother is speaking out after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained her undocumented husband in front of their children, calling the raid part of a “political war” on immigrant families.

Loreal Duran, a resident of Echo Park, Los Angeles, described the moment when ICE agents surrounded her car early in the morning; detained her husband, Giovanni Duran, without explanation; and left her family devastated.

As immigration crackdowns intensify under the Trump administration, Loreal Duran fears for her family’s future while her young children, including a son with autism, grapple with the emotional trauma of their father’s sudden arrest.

Loreal Duran has discussed the emotional toll the raid has taken on her family, expressing frustration over what she sees as politically motivated immigration enforcement.

“I’m feeling a lot of hate. A lot of anger. And I just feel like we’re at this point that as a society, this is what it comes to,” she told Newsweek in an exclusive interview.

“It’s some kind of political war, and they’re playing with people’s lives and people’s families,” she continued, adding, “I don’t have my husband, and my kids don’t have a father.”

A Sudden and Shocking Arrest

On January 23, around 8 a.m., Loreal Duran was in her car with her husband and their children when four unmarked vehicles surrounded them. ICE officers approached, asked for her ID and then spotted Giovanni Duran. Without confirming his identity or checking for documentation, the agents moved in, she said.

“They didn’t ask for his name. They didn’t ask for any type of identification. So they basically just took him out of the car and handcuffed him,” Loreal Duran said.

Their 7-year-old son, who has autism, witnessed the event. Confused and frightened, he struggled to understand what had happened, his mother said.

“At first, he told his friends that his daddy got arrested because he wasn’t wearing a seat belt,” Loreal Duran said. “Then, a week later, he said, ‘My daddy got arrested because he’s brown.'”

When she demanded to see a warrant, ICE agents failed to provide one.

“He told me they had a warrant out for his arrest, and I go, ‘Where’s the warrant?’ And they did not provide me with any type of warrant or any type of legal paperwork. All they gave me was a business card that had his A-Number on it.”

ICE agents can detain individuals in public spaces without a warrant, provided they have probable cause to believe the person is violating immigration laws. Public spaces include streets, open businesses and courthouses.

According to Section 287 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, ICE officers are authorized to arrest individuals without a judicial warrant if they have probable cause to believe the person is unlawfully present in the United States and is likely to escape before a warrant can be obtained.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office on January 20, the Department of Homeland Security has reported more than 8,000 arrests of undocumented immigrants, with about 5,000 people being deported or removed from the country during this period.

Giovanni Duran came to California from El Salvador when he was 2 years old. He had been living in the U.S. for almost four decades, working as a busser at a sushi restaurant in Los Angeles to support his family. He is now being held at the Adelanto detention facility, a privately operated center under contract with ICE, awaiting deportation to El Salvador.

When Newsweek contacted ICE for comment, a spokesperson said, “Due to our operational tempo and the increased interest in our agency, we are not able to research and respond to rumors or specifics of routine daily operations for ICE.”