‘Take me, not him!’ The stories of the families ripped apart by ICE agents
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ICE Cold
Documenting the stories of families ripped apart by masked federal immigration agents.
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Day after day, migrants line up in the lobby of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York City near a wall bearing a portrait of President Donald Trump and the text of the preamble to the US Constitution. Upstairs, masked ICE agents and federal officers in balaclavas and sunglasses detain people after their court hearings, amid the Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts.
The officers stand outside courtrooms with papers bearing photos of their ‘targets.’ After an arduous journey seeking asylum and lurching toward the American Dream, the so-called targets and their families react with anguish and tears, while others walk quietly away to a new destiny.
Most heart-wrenching are the family separations, which are commonplace in these hallways. In one moment, children grab their father’s shirt, futilely holding on. And in another, family members are injured by those paid to protect. Others still are led in shackles to the 10th floor where fellow migrants are held.
Here are the stories of some of the families whose lives were shattered by the detention of a husband, father, loved one.
Monica, Rosa, & Christopher
‘Take me, not him – they will kill him!’ screamed Monica, a woman from Ecuador.
She and her children were pulled away from her husband Ruben as he was detained by ICE after his immigration court hearing on Sept. 25. Monica continued to plead with an officer and was thrown to the floor as her children wept. She was taken to a nearby hospital to be examined for head injury. The ICE officer was only temporarily relieved of duties.
Ruben was recently released from detention and the family reunited. He credits the diligence of his lawyers and his wife’s relentless efforts for his release.
The children are calmer now but still struggle with traumatic memories. Rosa, especially, suffered with nightmares and felt guilty that she couldn’t pull her father away from the ICE agents. She apologized, “Mom, forgive me because I couldn’t hug my dad well. If I had hugged him well, they wouldn’t have taken him.’’ They are seeking a therapist to help her heal.
Their journey to this new land included five weeks of traversing Mexico on foot, and then they were detained at the border.
“When we were walking across Mexico, Christopher said he was going to keep walking until he saw the Stature of Liberty,’’ said Monica. .
On their third day in America, there it was – the beacon of the huddled masses. “We had only seen it in the movies,’’ explained Monica. ‘‘We never thought we would be here.’’
For now, they are reveling in family time, but a constant cloud hangs over their modest apartment in Queens. They fear vehicles with tinted windows that park outside their building. Both Reuben and Monica have new hearings looming in the new year.
‘’Hopefully, God willing, nothing will happen,’’ she states.
Anita, Scarlett & Ashley
“Why are you taking away my father from me? He is the only one I have,’’ wept 10-year-old Scarlett clinging to him as ICE agents detained him after his immigration court hearing on July 31.
Anita and her two daughters have struggled after Hermel was taken. Scarlett’s biological dad was murdered, and this is a second painful loss in her young life.
Scarlett makes drawings of Jesus protecting her Papa and watches TikTok videos about saying goodbye. Slowly they adapt to a new normal. Anita throws a party for Ashley who celebrated her third birthday without her father.
When he calls, she cuddles and kisses the phone. ‘Ash… my little girl, my little girl,’ he says, crying.
This family had traversed the jungle of the notorious Darien Gap with newborn Ashley, fleeing Ecuador to follow their dream of a safer life in America. Anita seeks legal advice and therapy at local churches, which are epicenters for aid, prayer and solace.
She breaks down at times weeping, “[I feel] desperation. I don’t know what to do.’’
They are working to secure Hermel’s release, insisting he is wrongly accused. She tells him: “Surrender to God. You’re not a criminal… You’re not alone, you have us.’’ Her own immigration court hearing is looming. For now, she falls asleep embracing her girls, holding onto fragile hope as they await an uncertain destiny.
After languishing in detention for over three months, Hermel made the difficult decision to self-deport to Ecuador. The family stretches across the sea, fractured.
Grace
A migrant woman and her children from Ecuador weep after her husband was detained by ICE agents and federal officers after their immigration court hearings at the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in New York on Aug. 20.
“Please help me, please help me, please help me. Take me, too.” she wept as he was led away.
Later, a security guard breaks down in tears while witnessing their heartbreak. Security guards are tangled in the middle of ICE, migrants, observers, activists and press as courthouse dynamics play out in this new normal in America.
Sometimes, it’s the quiet moments that reach most deeply into the collective conscience of a nation.
Jessica, Dylan and & Christina
Jessica Supliguicha was eight months pregnant when her husband Jorge was detained by ICE in September.
“I felt the world was coming to an end,’ she wept. ‘’They change your life overnight.’’
Husband and wife are both from Ecuador, and she is a now a naturalized US citizen. Jorge had fled the gang violence that killed his brother back home. They were married in May but did not have enough time to petition the court before his hearing.
Jessica lives in Queens with her 9-year-old son Dylan, who comforts her when she sobs, saying, ‘‘Jorge is not dead. Don’t cry all the time, I will take care of you. I will protect you.’’ In her bedroom is a crib holding newborn Cristina and candles burning under a religious portrait and photos from her wedding.
Jorge was deported to Ecuador three days before the baby was born and remains in hiding. She pursues legal avenues to bring him back to her, but that could take years. She is struggling financially without him and battling depression.
“I don’t know where I get the strength to survive,’’ she says. “I’m not going to give up because they are children, and I am the pillar of the home. If I collapse, they will too,’’ she explains.
For now, she cradles her tiny new daughter, hoping one day she will meet her father.
‘’I asked the Virgin to give me a miracle,’’ said Jessica, who believes the baby recognizes her Papa’s voice when he calls.
And with the generosity of family, friends and her boss, she will. They pooled donations for a plane ticket to Ecuador as a Christmas gift. On Dec. 30, the family will be on a flight that will lead them to Jorge’s embrace as they greet a new year. “I’m still in shock because I don’t know if it’s a dream or not,’’ she wept. ‘‘He’s finally going to see my princess.’’
Who knows if they will return.
This story was originally published December 31, 2025 at 7:39 PM.
