How ICE Operates in the Shadows

On June 18, 2025, Pedro Vasquez Perdomo and his colleagues were waiting for a ride to a construction job in Pasadena, California. Suddenly, black vehicles with tinted windows arrived and a group of masked, armed men emerged. They approached the group, handcuffed Vasquez Perdomo, and took him away. He later described the experience as a kidnapping. The agents did not identify themselves or provide a warrant, and Vasquez Perdomo was never informed of the reason for his arrest.

Later that month, Brayan Ramos-Brito, a 29-year-old US citizen, was arrested for allegedly assaulting a Border Patrol agent during an anti-ICE protest. He was taken to Santa Ana City Jail in Orange County and subsequently entered the federal criminal system, where he was assigned a public defender and prepared to face the court.

Vasquez Perdomo and Ramos-Brito, both arrested in the same region within the same month, experienced vastly different legal systems. The criminal system that Ramos-Brito entered is open and transparent, with legal protections and rights afforded to US citizens. In contrast, Vasquez Perdomo faced the immigration system, which is secretive and unpredictable.

People detained in this system often struggle to reach a lawyer or inform their families of their whereabouts, and they may be deported to countries with which they have no ties due to covert agreements with foreign governments.

In criminal cases, the process begins immediately with a judge overseeing proceedings, hearings often held in open court, and defendants having access to legal representation. Court records are publicly available, detailing the allegations against the defendant, their current detention location, and the date of their next court appearance.

However, immigration cases prove to be far more opaque. Arrests can be made with a lower legal standard, defendants may not have access to a lawyer, and their whereabouts and evidence against them remain hidden from view.

Despite Vasquez Perdomo's citizenship status, his experience was not determined by his legal standing in the country, but rather by the inherent features of the systems he encountered. When immigrants face criminal charges, they receive more protections than if they were in ICE custody, immigration attorneys assert. In rare instances when US citizens have been detained in immigration facilities, they, too, encounter greater secrecy and fewer safeguards.

This is because immigration cases have traditionally been handled as civil matters, lacking the necessary oversight imposed by the courts, as explained by César Cuauhtémoc García Hernández, an Ohio State University law professor who specializes in criminal and immigration law.

The Supreme Court has historically classified immigration proceedings as civil, arguing that the outcomes should not be punitive. However, the reality is quite different. Over time, the immigration system has increasingly functioned more like the criminal justice system, characterized by widespread arrests and prolonged detentions.