ICE detained over 1,000 people in DC. Here’s one man’s story

Alexander Esquivel was eating breakfast in his car outside his Washington, D.C. apartment last August when, unbeknownst to him, an ICE agent approached his vehicle. Esquivel was about to leave for his cleaning job and stepped out of the car to dust crumbs off his shirt when the agent grabbed his wrist.

“He said, ‘which border did you cross?’ He asked me that repeatedly, over and over again,” Esquivel said. “I felt so many emotions: What would happen if they deported me? I’ll lose my family, my friends, everything I’ve built, I’ll lose it all in the blink of an eye, all for nothing.” 

When he couldn’t provide proof of citizenship, the officer arrested Esquivel, after which he was transported to Chantilly Detention Center in Northern Virginia.

“They handcuffed us all like animals, at our waists, feet, and arms,” Esquivel said.

Esquivel migrated from El Salvador to the US almost 20 years ago, and he’s one of more than 1,100 people who were detained in D.C. in the two months following President Trump’s surge of federal law enforcement last August, according to Washington Post reporting. Like over 80 percent of those arrested, he did not have a criminal record. While Esquivel is comparatively lucky — he won his court hearing last month, allowing him to remain in the U.S. — he and his family are still among the thousands of D.C. families living in the shadow of the ongoing crackdown. 

“I’m always scared, you know, because even if the police stop us, then they could call ICE agents,” said his daughter Kaylie Esquivel, a 9th grader who is U.S. citizen. Kaylie said she cried every night of father’s detention. “I have this bond with my dad that I didn’t really have with anyone else,” she said.

For his part, Esquivel still has nightmares about his incarceration. “I wake up with that trauma, thinking I’m still detained,” he said.

After Chantilly, Esquivel was transferred to Southwest Virginia Regional Jail, six hours away from D.C.. He was then moved to Farmville Detention Center near Richmond, Virginia, where he was given a yellow uniform indicating his lack of a criminal record. He said he met many people who were in the country legally or were in the process of obtaining legal immigration status.

“They took them without a justification and without reason, solely because of the color of their skin and their Hispanic features,” Esquivel said.

Many of the arrests in Washington D.C. occurred without warrants, according to The Washington Post. Last September, a Supreme Court ruling greenlit the use of racial profiling in immigration arrests nationwide.

Esquivel still thinks about the conditions of the jail. “We heard that there were worms in the food,” he said. (An October 2025 report by the National Immigration Project documented reports of worms in the food at Farmville, and detainees facing retaliation for refusing to eat).  

“Everyone there was very sick — they got sick with everything, the flu, among other things,” said Esquivel, adding that people struggled to get access to medical care in detention. “The treatment was truly inhumane,” Esquivel said. 

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to request for comment.

While Alex was gone, his wife Dolores says she experienced intense fear, anxiety, and depression. “This wasn’t the life I wanted. Living in fear isn’t living,” she said.

The family received lots of support from their community during his detention, raising over $25,000 to help with his legal fees. Dolores said that while neighbors left food outside for them everyday, it was of limited comfort.

“I don’t want money, I don’t want anything, I want my husband,” she said, of how she felt during those months.

In November, after two months in detention, Esquivel was released on bail. The immigration judge cited his strong family ties and lack of a criminal record. 

“It was so fulfilling, such a joy,” said Dolores of when he finally returned home. “There is nothing better than being with your husband, my husband with his daughters, with his parents. That’s the true value of life, family.”

Even while they continue to celebrate, the family worries that last month’s court win that allows him to stay could be challenged by the Department of Homeland Security. He and his family avoid leaving the house as much as possible for fear of running into immigration enforcement.

Still, Esquivel hasn’t lost hope.

“I’d tell them not to lose faith, to fight as hard as they can,” he said of what he’d tell other people facing detention. “To fight until they give their last ounce of effort, to not give up, because without a fight there is no victor.”