U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) authorities need no introduction. Much has been written about their alleged abusive ways of picking up the wrong people, detaining them under inhuman conditions, and deporting some of them, abruptly separating them from their loved ones.
What began as a policy by the Trump administration to detain, punish, and deport illegal immigrants and criminals has allegedly become an operation that has instilled fear in everyone’s mind. Recently, masked ICE agents stormed into the Citizenship and Immigration Services office in San Diego, where applicants were giving their green card interviews.
According to The Mirror U.S., ICE arrested two people in the process. One was a German man, and the other was a British mother who was carrying her six-month-old son. Even though the couples did not know each other personally, they had no criminal history.
They came for the interview because their spouses had overstayed their visas, which, according to their lawyer, was a mistake that could be redundant if they were the immediate relatives of a U.S. citizen.
A green card holder returning from vacation. An asylum recipient at a “routine check-in.” A woman reapplying for her work visa. All of them were legally in the U.S. when they were suddenly arrested and detained by ICE. https://t.co/smsRNUNMOv
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) November 17, 2025
As per the outlet, these abrupt arrests started on November 12, 2025, and even the people who were there in San Diego were shocked to witness the arrests. When ICE agents entered the office, both couples had completed the final stages of the green card visa interview process.
“Three men with masks and bulletproof vests and guns came in and told us they were going to arrest Tom,” said Audrey Hestmark.
Reportedly, her husband, Tom Bilger, arrived in America on a German visa after the duo married last year. They were at the office to complete his green card formalities. Meanwhile, the other British mother was Katie, who decided to stay back with her husband, Stephen Paul, when they found out she was pregnant.
The couple decided to apply for a green card in the U.S. instead of returning to the U.K. last fall to wait for her admission. Their lawyers told them that their decision was possible under the immigration laws because they were legally married.
“I asked for their names, but they refused to give their full identities,” Audrey Hestmark said. “They didn’t show badge numbers or remove their masks. They simply said, ‘We have a warrant for his arrest,’ handed me a QR code, put my husband in handcuffs, and took him away—telling me I couldn’t follow.”
Similarly, Katie’s husband also described the moment when she was taken away. “She was in shock,” he said. “She kept asking what was wrong and what we had done. We thought we were doing everything by the book.”
According to Daylight San Diego, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has maintained a policy since 2013 stating that it will not refer individuals to ICE during the green card review process, even if they entered under the Visa Waiver Program. Unless they have committed serious crimes or ICE has already issued a removal order.
If USCIS approves the candidate, then ICE does not need to get involved. In a similar arrest, as stated by the outlet, Mira and Niv were also the victims of the abrupt operation. Mira had met Niv on a dating app, and the two fell in love.
The couple married later that year and began the process to adjust Niv’s status to permanent resident. Niv, who held both Israeli and German citizenship, had come to the United States to visit family when the pair met in March 2024. The couple had a whirlwind romance and an intimate wedding in October 2024.
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The duo, along with their lawyer Michelle Celleri of Alliance San Diego, submitted their green card paperwork around the Fourth of July. As they were at the end of their green card interview, two ICE agents entered the room, placed Niv in handcuffs, and asked his wife and lawyer to step aside.
As devastated Mira desperately tries to bring her husband home at the time of writing this story, like many others, she also has the same question: till how long will this continue?
